


Little god of chaos

by fanfictionwriterinprogress



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: A LOT OF CREEPY TORTURE, Brotherly Love, But not quite, Loki Feels, Loki Has Issues, Loki Needs a Hug, Loki traumatized, Odin is a Douche, Psychological Torture, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Torture, a little AU mixed with something else i have no idea what the words is for yet, although i dont think you can ever be prepared, and loki will be all pow pow, barton is kinda annoying, bifrost is repaired, de-aged loki, dont say i didn't warn ya, i have the ending and start figured out but not the middle, i like bruce a lot in this fic, i like this tagging thing, its a wonder loki didn't get more insane, its funny, like sooo much torture, little god of mischief, mental trauma, natasha is understanding, okay i will stop now, please dont hate me, please stop me, so be prepared, some memory problems, thor tries to help, tony is sort of getting better, who knows maybe we will get to see some DOOM, why am i like this??, you are gonna hate me after reading the ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-17 01:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9297938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictionwriterinprogress/pseuds/fanfictionwriterinprogress
Summary: Thor finds out something is wrong with Loki. To help him fight of Thanos, Frigga enlist the help of mages around the worlds, to turn him into a kid. But all doesn't go to plan and Thor takes Loki with him to midgard, and thus starts Loki adventure with the Avengers.





	1. New beginnings are hard okay?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is number two fan fictions that I have written. The first one you can find on Tumblr its called remembrance of hell, and if you search the tag you should be able to find it ( or else message me then I will send you the link). this is my first long running fic, so i hope you like it :) 
> 
>  
> 
> Disclaimer: You know the think about not owning anything except the story? Yeah that applies here too XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is number two fan fictions that I have written. The first one you can find on Tumblr its called remembrance of hell, and if you search the tag you should be able to find it ( or else message me then I will send you the link). this is my first long running fic, so i hope you like it :)

 

* * *

 

 

Thor took lengthy steps down the hallway that eventually would lead to the big oak door, which lead to the throne room. Some guards looked at him funny, though he cared not, the only thing on Thor’s mind was to reach the throne room, as fast as godly possible. He had been in such a hurry, that he hadn’t thought of what he would do, when he reached the door. It wasn’t until soon that he had found out what his mother wished to do. At first he had been a little angry, but in time, and when he had given the necessary thought to it. Had he decided that, it would be for the best. With this thoughts rummaging through his head pushed he open the oak doors. As gracefully as he could, he was a prince after all, he hurried towards the table, where his brother laid. Loki was trapped inside the depth of his mind. Thor knew that Loki’s mind was a dark place full of wounds and broken trust, which was why he didn’t want this to take more than necessary. After all who knew what would happen? Thor of course blamed him self, for his brother turmoil. If he had realized what was going on in Midgard, maybe this could have taken an entirely different story. No Loki had been taken back to Asgard, to serve his punishments. He had been taken to his cell, where Loki had been alone, or so they thought…. They hadn’t realized what had really fuelled his wrongdoings, and what or who was toying with his mind. No they first time Thor realized something was wrong it was too late. Loki had broken out, how they didn’t know yet, and the sight. The sight was horrifying. Thor had battled him, and he was ashamed to say, but he might even have killed him. If it weren’t for him noticing Loki’s struggle of eye colour, he would never have guessed it weren’t actually his brother pulling the strings. To subdue him they had put him under a sleeping curse, and started searching for other answers to solving the puzzle. Mother, queen Frigga, searched for every sorcerer and sorceress she could find. Only the best of the best would work. It was a dangerous spell after all. No one before them had been successful. It took two weeks for them to know the incantation in heart. Meanwhile sick with worry, Thor had buried himself in training with the warriors three and Sif.

 

The runes where set up, and then they started to do the ceremony. Thor couldn’t recognise any of the words that where used. A soft golden tinge mixed with a very familiar green spread over Loki. The magic wave grew in power, until it was so strong that it hurt in the eyes just to look at it. Seconds later it was gone, like it hadn’t even been there in the first place. Where there had before laid a full-grown man, was now a small boy. Another rush of words slipped their way into the throne room, and Frigga hurried over to her now young sons bedside. Before Thor could even begin to go over to his younger brother, got the boy up. The boy had a look of confusion written all over his face. Before he knew Loki had gotten around Frigga and had run in the other direction, towards the exit of the room.

 

“Brother where in Hels name are you going?” asked Thor. He was silently contemplating whether or not to run after him. Without much thought to how it might upset the now young Loki, Thor started to run after him. But before he could catch up with him, did some guards catch Loki. He fought violently hectic punches and kicks flew into open air until they could hit something solid. Frigga realizing that her son was terrified walked slowly to not make the little boy even more afraid.

->*-*<-

 

“I do not understand, who are thy people, where am I? This looks like Asgard, but it’s all wrong, every face is wrong!” Frigga could barely control herself. This was the voice of someone she had missed dearly, a voice that she for a year thought was dead, only to be returned as a malicious killing machine. Yes it was safe to say, that she had missed her precious little Loki. She had to muster every last inch of strength she had left, to not just take the boy into her large loving arms. Instead she began to explain, of course only the essential there was no need in worrying the boy, of something that could not be changed.

 

->*-*<-

 

“Loki my dear boy. You where hit by a horrible sleeping curse, and it’s only know, that we found the counteract to wake you up.” She had to come up with a lie. There was simply no other way. Telling him the truth would only put his mind at risk.

 

”Mother?” asked Loki with a hint of confusion left in his voice, as though he still couldn’t quite believe it yet. He continued to point at people he knew who was, though they were very much different “Thor, Father and Mother”, I am truly sorry but I do not know who the rest of you are”.

->*-*<-

 

Odin moved closer at the sound of his name. It had been a long time since he had heard the word “father” come out of Loki’s mouth, and even though he would never admit it, neither to himself or out loud, he had missed it. Whatever wrongdoings he had done towards Loki, he still loved him. Loki untangled himself of his mother, and walked slowly, reluctantly towards his out dated family.

->*-*<-

 

It was needles to say that Thor was surprised when Loki fell asleep in his arms. He had to remind himself, that this was not the Loki that he remembered. This was the pure and the misunderstood Loki, not the one that had been in destroyed by the time in the Void and the time afterwards. Loki had stopped showing any kind of emotion a long time before the whole ordeal with his own banishment and Loki finding out the truth of his heritage. Thor was regretful that he hadn’t seen it before, but he had been to obsessed with himself to even know his own brothers pain and worries. Thor hadn’t realized how hurt his brother had been, he hadn’t realized how deep his pain had gone, how much it had festered over time. He swiftly carried him into his room. Loki’s room looked just as it had the last time he had lived here. It was insanely spacious; it had a bed that could fit five people, a bookcase that filled an entire wall, a giant desk that was at least two and perhaps even an half-meter long. There was a hallway that led to a bathroom; filled with a bathtub, and whatever there needs to be in a typical bathroom.

->*-*<-

Loki had awoken a little late the next day. He was still slightly confused, unsure of who all the faces where. Of course his brilliant mind had made up a game, where he would guess who the persons were. Which made Loki grin like a little maniac, he had that odd tinge to him, that when he smiled he could get others to smile too. Even though Loki liked this new life, he still missed the old ones, the one where he didn’t feel different and out of time. When he was smaller, he had a special place, that no one knew about (except perhaps Heimdall, since he sees all) He wished he could have time to go there, perhaps if he snuck out… It was not too far away and if he planned it properly he could be back before anyone even noticed he was gone. He could do a simple transportation and that would be it, it couldn’t be that bad an idea could it?

He stole some bread from the royal kitchen, without anyone noticing him. And then he was on his way. He was there in a matter of seconds. He had always loved this place. The sound of waterfall surrounding him always managed to calm him down. There were stones nearly in the water, which reached almost a meter above the surface. Though now they had moss growing all over them, that didn’t bother Loki though. On the other side there where mountains and behind him there was forest, and if he looked a little to the side he could see the remains of the bridge he used to sit on. Though now time had worn it down. Roots had torn some of the cobblestones from their rightful places, and moss and grass where covering over half. Yes this was the place Loki had come to relax, where he had gone to escape the teasing of warriors three, Sif and Thor, this was where he had gone when he had been on the verge of crying, but since it was not honourable for an Asgardian to cry, he couldn’t. so yes this held a great sentimental value to him. It was weird because now he sort of longed for those times, he didn’t know how to respond to all the kindness he had been showed, and he would always wonder if they just did it because they felt obliged to do it, and not because they really an truly did love him. He had gotten his hopes up plenty of times in the past, and now he were afraid that it would destroy him permanently. He could sit on the bridge or on these rocks for hours wondering what he had done wrong to deserve such a family. A family where he felt like the only one that truly cared for him was his own mother, and even her love would sometime flow away.

 

He moved a little closer to the water, so he could put his feet under the cold and refreshing water. It was something he had missed, however trivial it might seem. Unlike the golden prince Thor, Thor who was Asgard’s crown jewel, while he on the other hand, couldn’t do much in battle. He was small and weak, and always looked upon. No one realized that even though magic was of the womanly arts, it still could do much damage on the battlefield. However people opinions are hard to change, even though Loki did his absolute best to be better, always perfecting, always striving for just an ounce of recognition from Thor or even his own father.

Loki got bored. He was wondering if his faithful fox, would come back again. The fox, which he had named Foxy the fox, would sometimes come to drink at the water. It took time but after a while, and with a lot of meat, he had finally gotten it to like him. When he had learned to shape shift he would change into a fox, and they would go on hunts together. While out on hunts with his fox friend flew time by. The only reason he hadn’t been caught more times than he was, was because of his teleportation. He had often used the excuse that he was reading, and time flew by, or that he was practicing magic (another thing he did while out near the waterfall) it always earned him a kind smile from his mother, and a sigh from both his brother and father. Sometimes he would even be late to the meals. When he was late, he nearly always came in when Thor was boasting about his latest win, or how he had perfected his skills in combat. It was never about was HE had done, how HIS day had been, or what magic HE had been practicing, no it was always about Thor. Perhaps now it will be different… People where beginning to be more nice towards him, there was no snarky comments from the Warriors Three, Sif still didn’t like him, but there was no hate emanating from her, as there usually where. Guess he just had to take it one day at a time.

 

While he sat there bored but not wanting to go back just yet, fell his thoughts on why. Did someone really hate him enough to try to put him away in a sleeping curse, or was it just for their own amusement? He will probably never get an answer, and that just made him more distressed.

He had no idea how long he had been there, maybe two hours maybe four. The sun was starting to set, but it was also nearly afternoon when he left. Loki chanted the transportation spell, and not soon after, he was back inside his room, tucked safely behind the blankets of skin on his bed. A guard probably sensing some sort disturbance looked in, seeing that Loki was tucked beneath his bed skins, he deemed it unnecessary to go any further inside. Meanwhile Loki had a mischievous boyish grin plastered on his face. It had probably been a very long time since he had done something like this, and he enjoyed it very much. His room looked almost as he remembered it. There were dust covering the books he hadn’t read in a while, but that didn’t really bother him, aside from that it was spotless. Looking back on the past, he remembered how there always laid half used clothes on the floor, and how papers and magic books would lay around covering the floor and most of his desk. When he had been younger he would hang papers with sygils and incantations over his bed, so he could look up and wonder about them. Sleep finally caught up with him, and he closed his eyes and slept.

 

He was woken when he heard a knock on the door.

“Stop that infernal knocking or I won’t let you in!

 

said Loki drowsily; this was not how he would like to be woken up.

The sun was already high in the sky, and it lit up his whole room. He moved slowly towards the door, _if this were some sort of Thor’s shenanigans I would personally make his live a living Hel._ He waited as long as he could, but when he heard another knocking, he pulled himself together, so he didn’t look half dead. He pressed down on the handle, and in the middle of a bank came Thor pouring in.

->*-*<-

“Pack your clothes, we are going on an adventure!” said Thor. It of course wasn’t true, but he didn’t want to tell him the truth just yet. After all Loki deserved some peace before he was thrown out into this world again.

->*-*<-

 

Loki knew better than to question him when he had that tone of voice. Therefore he began to pack some of his clothes, and some books (he wanted to catch up on all that he had missed) when he was done, he took the bag over the shoulder. He was actually a little exited to what kind of adventure Thor had in mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors note:  
> Thank you to the people that happened to find this fan fiction, and decided “hey this is actually pretty good I would love to read more”  
> I have nothing against if you point out if I have a spelling and/or grammar mistake.  
> Also I know foxy the fox is kinda a lame name, but give me a break its like three in the very early morning XD  
> Also remember that everyone who leaves a Kudo and/or reviews gets a cyber cupcake + it fuels my writing spirit so there is that XD


	2. Who are all these people?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki and Thor arrives to Stark tower. And Thor explains the situation to some of the Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how many times i have rewritten the Thor's, Tony's and Steve's conversation. It was seriously hard to write okay XD i re-wrote it like three times, but then i decided fuck it and just turned this in, so hope its okay. I still haven't quite figured how to write old-goldly speaking, and his character is kinda complex.

* * *

 

Thor held Loki firmly in his hands, so close that Loki could hear Thor’s heart beating. He could see tall buildings appear into his vision, on the other side he could see buildings, and below he could see streets that were swarming with people. Midgard has changed very since my last visit. The last time he had been here was in the old France. Now it was full of life, even though it must have been much late, were people still running around on the streets below them. Some kind of transportations made loud noises, but it didn’t seem to irritate most of the midgardians. Suddenly Thor started slowing down. Seconds later he landed on some kind of building. The building was tall, and on the side where there big letters that emanated light.

  
→*-*←

Tony as usual was down in his lab working on his latest idea. His days and nights where mostly spent down there, but when the Avengers started living in STARK tower, he began to socialise more. He was actually pretty proud of himself for that. Spending nights watching movies, and not down in his lab. Of course he still drank, a lot, but now he knew he had people that cared for him, and that made his life just a teeny tiny bit better.  
It was getting harder and harder for him to concentrate, his last days lack of sleep where finally getting up to catch him. Banner still worked, but he too where getting kinda sleepy. Tony was way too stubborn to ever admit that he was getting tired, poured him self another cup of coffee mixed it with some Vodka, and then boom he was ready again. Though he did catch Banner throw a sceptical glance towards him. But come on it had only been about four months since the invasion; they couldn’t expect him to just shrug it off!

 

The latest of their projects was a new design to the Iron man suit. They wanted to make it so it could withstand magical attacks. You know just in case they ever fought against Loki or someone like Loki ever again. Best to be prepared right?  
“Why don’t we go to sleep, its late, and i’m pretty sure my brain is too fried to work anymore” Bruce did know that both he and Tony was tired, and he also knew that Tony was too stubborn to ever ask something like that himself. So Bruce had to take it upon himself to do it. Not that he cared that much, he just wished Tony would learn to take care of himself. It was literally driving him nuts, the amount of care that man had for him self, would be equal to a small nut.  
“Sure thing Brucie, we’ll finish this up in the morning”

The elevator door opened on the sleeping floor. They half tumbled half walked their way out into the open hall that would lead them to their own rooms. Only they didn’t make it that far, before a knocking sound could be heard. What the hell it’s coming from the balcony thought Tony. Having now located where the sound came from, Tony walked fuelled with a new kind of power over to the balcony doors. In stepped Thor, dripping with water.  
“Good to see you again point break, now would you mind telling me why you are ruining my very expensive carpet?” asked Tony. Seriously did that guy hold no love for antiquities!  
It was first now that Tony saw the bundle of clothes and skin that Thor held firmly in his arms.  
“Holy shit is that Loki!” shouted Tony, “ah shit Brucie stay calm, we don’t need you hulking out right now”  
“Care for how you speak Tony. “ said Thor. “ Can we talk about this later? I would like to come inside before I am asked all the questions you must have”.  
“Tony let the man come in” Said Bruce. “Sorry Tony here upgraded his system so every door leading to the outside need a special code before it can be opened from the outside”  
“Uhmm Thor big guy, would you like to explain why the boy that kinda looks like Loki is here?” Said Tony, he really didn’t want another invasion right now, too much stress.  
The bundle that was yet to be identified had moved to hide behind Thor’s cape, probably for some kind of protection. The boy was only slightly out of the capes protection, which was actually pretty funny to watch since it looked like an obscure mix with green and red. And those colours did not match at all!  
Loki had no idea who this man was, but he assumed that he was one of Thor’s friends. But then the question arrived, why would Thor have mortal friends? Their frail body would do no good when they went out on hunts… so how come Thor seemed to like them so much. The other man, most likely mortal too, was a scrawny looking man. He had some kind of things in front of his eyes, and his hair was a mess. Didn’t they know they were royalty? They acted so casually. Almost like they didn’t have a care in the world. He poked his head a little more out from the capes protective barrier. He was a curious kid after all, and he was also looking for ways to get out of there, should the need arise. The other mortal looked tired, he had dark brown hair, and dark circles under his eyes. Loki’s glance fell on the cup that the dark brown haired mortal had in his hands. It looked dark, like poison, but was mortals really that crazy they would drink poison freely? In all the books Loki had read about the mortal, there never stood anything of mortals drinking poison. Then again there probably were a lot of new books he hadn’t read yet.

  
→*-*←

  
Thor knew they couldn’t talk about Loki at the minute. Therefore he made a head tilt signalling to the others that they needed to talk in private. He hadn’t given the situation much thought, and he was beginning to regret that decision. He didn’t want to keep anything hidden from his mortal friends, but he was perplexed on how some of the Avengers would take the information.

→*-*←

  
Loki was not entirely sure on what to make of this yet. The mortals didn’t seem to harm Thor, but they didn’t look like they liked him. Which was a big question to him, since he hadn’t met anyone of them before. Perhaps they, like all the others, just didn’t like him, without ever needing a reason. Most people in the palace didn’t like him, but that was okay, because he didn’t like them either. His acts of mischief were mostly directed towards the people that didn’t like him, like an act of revenge if you will call it that. He had always reserved the more embarrassing to the Council. Those mostly consisted of not being able to mutter a single coherent word in court, or discussing some important business. Other times it involved some tripping and non-human sounds. It always earned him a disapproving glance from his father, and sometimes even punishments. Not that Loki cared anyways; he had stopped caring about his father’s love a long time ago… when he realized it weren’t there at all.  
The mortals, or human as they apparently went by on the midgardian tongue, started walking towards another room. He started to follow them, curios to know what was going to happen.

“Brother, how would you like to study some midgardian traditions?” Thor asked him. He knew this tone of voice. It meant that he was not allowed to come with. Thor had used it several times, when he, the Warriors Three, and Sif where going somewhere, where he weren’t allowed to come or when they didn’t want him to come. It had happened several times, and it always sent a jab of pain through Loki’s heart. Something he would never admit out loud though, weakness was not a part of Asgardian life. So Loki did what he was told. He went over to where Thor had pointed, and sat down. The furniture, had a similar resemblance to his bed back in Asgard, but this one was long and were clearly not developed to sleep in. When Thor left with the mortals, took curiosity over, and he immediately started to found more information about midgardian culture.

→*-*←

  
Bruce also had no idea what was going on. He had recognized the little boy, but he just couldn’t believe it. He had nearly hulked out, out of seer surprise though he had managed to calm himself. The little boy kinda looked like Loki, he had the same face constructer, and the only thing that was different was the madness. Last time, under the invasion, could The Hulk smell it on him. Now there was nothing, no smell of anything even resembling to madness. Even with this thought process was it difficult for him to imagine Loki any other way than mad. Tony looked like he was beginning to understand what was going on, and the possible graveness of the situation. But he still worried about him, Tony looked like he could fell over from exhaustion any minute, and it was probably only adrenaline and his last cup of coffee that kept him going.  
They both followed Thor into the room he had pointed towards, and sat down on the armchairs. Bruce listened closely while Thor explained the situation to them. Though he never explained how they found out that Loki was controlled. He didn’t think Tony even noticed it; he was too focused on staying. Thor had begun to pace in the middle of his explanation. He wished he had practised what to say before coming here, but there had been no time.

 

“I do not know how to say this my friends. There has been… some new information about my brother’s actions regarding his motives for the invasion of Midgard.”

“Okay so what are you saying Point Break? Is Loki innocent or what, because I am pretty sure that I saw Loki in the flesh, when he threw me out a fucking window”

 

My brother may not have been himself. When we were on Asgard I noticed that his eyes where changing colour, the same colour as agent Barton had when he was under Loki’s control. When Loki broke out of the prison…”

“WAIT A MINUTE BROKE OUT?”

“Man of Iron would you be kind and let me tell the story to its end?” said Thor; honestly he had thought it would have been an easier. “ Someone broke my brother out of his prison, we do not know who it was yet, but mother and father suspects it might be someone inside the palace. Regarding my brothers situation there are a big possibility he might not have been aware of his actions both on Asgard and Midgard. To explain his situation of his altered state we will have to go back to his escape. My family and I believe that he much like Barton was mind controlled.” He stopped making sure he had their full attention. “The deepness of the mind control was strong, and it became clear that cognitive recalibration would not work. Thus my mother was on a quest to find the sorceress that could help save Loki, which meant transforming him into this new state of mind and body. The reason we are here was because that we got news that his captors from his time in the void, wanted to take him back, and we deemed it Midgard the safest place for him.”

Bruce that had stayed quiet throughout the explanation asked, “So what you want him to stay here with us? And if that’s the case how long?”

“I do not know the precise time, I will try to help with the negotiations in Asgard, the news that there might be a traitor in the house of Odin has travelled fast, and many of the people are worried of what could come to pass” Said Thor, “but I do not think it will take more than three months, though the time flows differently in Asgard so I can not be entirely sure”.

  
→*-*←

“Bruce…” Tony stopped as he was interrupted from Bruce  
“Stop right there Tony, I know what you’re going to say, and I know, but we can’t just leave Loki out there. You head what Thor said, Loki was not in control, perhaps even more so than Barton was. And you saw the kid. Last time he reeked of crazy, now can The Hulk not smell anything.

“Okay fine but if he tries to take over the world again it’s your ass on the line you hear me” Tony was not a least bit happy for his new tower roommate. Yeah sure he might have been mind controlled, but this was just something he had to see before he could believe it, after all there still was the slight possibility that Loki was just planning a long running game.

“Okay so now that is settled anything we need to know? Possible nightmares or any sudden outburst of need to take over the universe or something like that?

“The mind control should not be trouble anymore. And the spell used to de-age him might have some unforeseen side effects. There is a slight possibility that his memories will creep into his mind during sleep, but he will not be able to remember it when he wakes up. “

“Speaking of the spell, how does it actually work, is it some kind of voodoo crap or what? “ asked Tony. He would love to get some data readings from Loki, study his magic and anatomy; perhaps there really were a plus to this situation after all.

“I only know what I have been told, and even I found it much confusing, perhaps your quick brain could make some sense of it. Started Thor. “According to mother the spell is very complex and it takes many highly trained sorceress to perform it. And by my understanding it works like this. The spell causes the original body to be buried within the younger body. Like it is still there, all the experiences and all the memories, it’s just buried deep within him, where it won’t be able to get out. The Loki you see now like an echo of himself, in the fundament he is still the same person, but only up till the age he has now. Loki doesn’t realize that he has some else buried “inside” of him, and hopefully he never will.

 

“So basically what you’re saying is that the old Loki the I-want-to-rule-earth is still in there, but the other Loki, the young Loki, has taken his place?” asked Tony, to be honest he didn’t understand much of what was going on, but that was probably because of his severely sleep deprived brain, and not of his lack of knowledge, after all he was Tony freaking Stark. All this talk about multiple Loki’s had given him a headache, and he seriously needed a drink right now.

“Aye Man of Iron, it is the same Loki. This new Loki is young, and he has a new life ahead of him. Answered Thor, frankly he had been worried over how they would take it, but it had gone better than he had hoped for, now there were only the other Avengers to tell. It had only been a half-year after the invasion, and thus to some the news of Loki’s innocence would not be taken lightly.

→*-*←

  
Tony couldn’t make himself believe that the little boy that was in the room right out side of this door was the crazy, mad-driven god that they had met about six months ago. He still had some trouble believing, that someone had been able to break Loki, he had seem so prideful, like the world belonged to him, and he could do what he wanted, which apparently shouting the KNEEEEEEL into a crowd of people. But now, now he was just a child, and Tony and probably Bruce too, just couldn’t hate a child.

→*-*←

  
When they came out of the room, they were met with a peaceful sleeping Loki. By the looks of things, had he been trying to figure out what the different things were, and what kind of things they could do. Thor walked softly, or tried to, but his massive body weight didn’t exactly help him.

 

“Is there a sleeping room that my brother may use?” asked Thor as he looked around him.

“Jarvis, are there any sleeping chambers good enough to sleep in?” asked Tony. The tower was filled with sleeping champers, he had assigned each Avenger an entire floor to them, but it was possible to sleep in another’s floor seeing as they had several sleeping rooms. And most of them slept on the same floor. Bruce and him because that Thor’s floor were a lot closer to the laboratories than their own, Barton liked the height and Widow because she just liked it there. So most of the sleeping floors where left unused, except for a few maids that crashed there sometimes.

“Sire I estimate that the floor dedicated to Thor would be of most use right now” answered the AI forever Tony’s helpful companion.  
“Would you like to shove him the way? Seeing as he haven’t actually seen the floors yet” asked Tony. He himself was going to go to bed; even for him this had been enough drama for one night, and the only thing on his mind right now, was his bed calling out to him.

“Certainly sir” Jarvis answered, as he lit up the way with light and elevator doors opening.  
Thor went down the corridor and into the elevator, off to his own floor with little Loki. Hopefully they would still be alive in the morning.

→*-*←

  
He had fallen asleep without him realizing. He wouldn’t fall a sleep on a normal day, when he were on a possible enemy territory. But he had changed, as had everyone else for that matter, he was always tired. He first didn’t realize it, it was like a small cloud hanging over his head, never in the degree that it actually did something, he just felt slightly tired all the time. He had asked his mother about it, and she had told him that it was a caused to his sudden awakening. His body had to remodel, it took some getting used to for it too, now it needed to transform energy differently and it needed to learn how to take from his energy reserves, something it didn’t have to do while he was asleep. He faintly felt the sensation of being lifted and carried, he mumbled some words, but he quickly went to sleep afterwards.

→*-*←

  
Thor had difficulty with deciding how they would break the news to the other Avengers, he knew that Barton would be the worst to get around, but perhaps the fact that Loki was controlled too, could mean they got to some kind of understanding. On the other side he had Loki. It would be difficult getting him to agree to stay here without him for however long it would take. But whatever Loki said the fact was he had to stay here, if he wanted to or not.

Loki weighed a lot less than he remembered, perhaps that was normal, or on a more unsettling thought it was because of his time spent with who ever or what ever had got him out of the void, only for him to land in more Hel. That thought made Thor angry, who dared hurt his brother, when he met them he would personally send them to Hel. It worried Thor that he had to leave his brother, he would help him get settled in, but he also needed to take care of things in Asgard too. He knew that the quicker the problems in Asgard were resolved, the quicker Loki could get home, safe.

He carried him into the room; and he must say Tony had done a well job. As the room was on his floor, the colour theme was red and gold, which suited him gladly. It would be funny to see Loki’s reaction to it; he had always been more of a green and black type. The colours, in Thor’s mind, had a resemblance to his personality. Where red where outwardly and boastful where green more inwardly and shy, but also the colour of the snake, meaning that the person could sneak up on you and surprise you, which greatly described Loki’s personality. The room had little dust, probably for the cause that not been used in some time. In the middle of the room was the standard Midgardian bed, but by the Asgardian standard it was small. The beds on Asgard could fit at least five Loki’s and about two-three Thor’s. Gently he laid Loki down on the bed, carefully, without waking him up. And he too carefully laid himself besides him, like the good old days, where they would sleep in Thor’s bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for all the people leaving kudos and for the wonderful human that relieved and/or is going to do it later on XD.  
> *hands you cyber cupcake* + hopes you like it because im seriously a terrible cook XD
> 
> I dont know when the next chapter is going to go out probably in some weeks time, since i'll be busy with school and homework. 
> 
> Reviews and Kudos fuel my writing extravaganza. and you get a cyber cookie or a high five or whatever you need to feel better XD
> 
> Edit: The next chapter will most likely be uploaded some time next week so be prepared X


	3. Mortal people are kinda okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki wakes up, and decides to explore some of the tower. Tony runs into him on the balcony, and decides that his curiosity is worth satisfying,

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: there are some Loki feels in this one, though there will probably come a lot more later on. updates will happen 2-3 a week, again it depends on with homework + i just got a free time job (yay for me) so that's probably going to take some of my time too. 
> 
> i dont know what im thinking about the middle yet, but we are long way from there- so dont worry.  
> i have though up about 12 chapters but there is a big possibility i will write more than that.

 

 

* * *

 

”JARVIS, keep an out on Loki for me please, I don’t want to wake up to a not so de-aged Loki trying to kill me.” Commanded Tony in a jokingly tone, though he wasn’t really joking. “If there are any sign of trouble, if so much as lifts a finger wrong, I want to know” dead god he was starting to sound like Fury. Okay perhaps he was a little paranoid, but you try having a formerly insane god living under your roof, and the said god actually did try to kill you, and then let’s see what you think?

 

”Yes sire, would you like for me to keep an eye on his vital signs too?” Asked the AI, and again made Tony what he would do if he never had invented JARVIS. He would probably be dead from alcohol and a various other things a long time ago.

 

”Yeah you do that Jarv, meanwhile I’ll be in my bed sleeping. “ He really should be starting on the papers Pepper had sent to him, they were supposed to have his signature by the end of tomorrow. _I’ll just do it tomorrow no need to worry about that right now_ thought Tony as he made up his mind, something he probably would forget all about tomorrow, hopefully. He made his way to the kitchen, he couldn’t sleep on an empty stomach, and besides he needed alcohol to sleep so there was that. He found a cu, and poured some whisky into it, until it filled half the glass, he isn’t the spandex wrapped angel so what did you think? He drank the whisky as he waited for his toast (those two things didn’t go well with each other.) He could practically feel the demons inside of his mind retreating back. His minds constant repeat of mental anguish had only gotten worse since Thor had arrived with Loki, which was only roughly two hours ago. If this is what’s it going to be like everyday from now on, I’m gonna need a lot more alcohol. With his mouth full of toast and leftover taste from the whisky, made he his way down to his room (or the room he always used, even though his actual floor was higher up).

His bed was warm, probably warmed up from the radiators stationed around the room. He didn’t like coming home to a cool bed, it reminded him of the bed he had when he was in Afghanistan. Therefore he had given Jarvis the command to always make sure that his bed was on a perfect temperature, not too hot and not too cool. And with a peaceful mind (caused by the Whisky) Tony fell asleep, knowing that if Loki even raised a finger wrong he would wake up.

 

\-->*-*<\--

He woke up in unfamiliar surroundings, but stating on the soft bed he was laying on he would guess he was in some kind of sleeping room in the mortals house. The bed was little like the bed he had back in Asgard. This one was tiny, with no sleeping pelts, only some kind of weird thick blanket. He wasn’t old enough to wear any armour yet, so he didn’t have to worry about aching shoulders. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he saw another person lying next to him. He tiptoed quietly over to the side, so he could look at the unknown persons face. He got quite surprised when he found that it was Thor, he still wasn’t quite used to seeing this new Thor. Thor had changed a lot. Loki only hoped that he had changed in mind too, perhaps now Thor would actually notice him, and not dismiss whenever he could get the chance. Loki had always like Thor, but he became aware that Thor didn’t actually like him at an early age. He didn’t doubt it nor would he question it, he had to act like a brother to Thor, but Thor didn’t have to do it to him. Now that had changed, so Loki was at a loss how to handle the situation. He wasn’t used to getting all the attention and frankly it had him a little scared. Mostly scared because the thought that it might just be for some game lingered inside his mind, every time Thor or his father tried to do something nice for him.

 

 

After finding that it was near impossible to get some more sleep, decided Loki that it might be time for a little adventure. He had fallen asleep before he could figure out how to escape the building, and some fresh air would do him some good. The room he was in was quite smaller than his room back in Asgard; therefore it was a lot easier to navigate through. Loki could already see the door, even though he hadn’t really searched for it, something very different from his room in Asgard. In Asgard the sleeping room was so big, that if you stood in one corner you couldn’t see the door, though Loki had never needed such a big room. The only thing he needed was a library, and the palace had that already. He decided to turn right thought the hallway. There was some light coming from the ceiling, it came from something Loki had never seen before. Back in Asgard they used torches or magical orbs (at least he did), as source of light, but here on Midgard it came from strange things in the ceiling. He had to ask someone about that; the prospect of learning something new was warming to him. Things had most certainly changed since his last time coming here.

 

He ended upon a big room, and Loki recognized it as the room he was brought to for some hours ago. He was hit with cold wind, though it didn’t bother him really. He found that there wasn’t any furniture to sit on, so he made his way to the edge to look down on Midgard. The sight that greeted him was extraordinary. There was light EVERYWHERE Loki had never seen so much light. It was like a town that would never sleep. There was a buzz of people from below him, and strange transportations made noises and people yelped and it was just all so much. Loki couldn’t get enough, he wanted to sit here for hours and hours, and this was almost as good as the waterfall back in home, though there were no Foxy.

 

He sat here and dreamed himself away, pondering over what the typical Midgardian life would be like now. Certainly it wouldn’t be like back in the day, where people would hunt down magic users just because they feared them, or when entire kingdoms enslaved another race just because of different skin colour, no they seemed much more civilized now. Perhaps they could even tell him something about the new culture… if they didn’t shove him away that was. But they seemed like nice mortals. Though for unexpected reasons they seemed a little weary of him, he had to ask them about that, had he done something to make them upset or perhaps even angry with him? He was clueless to how much time he had spent there lying on his stomach, trying to fit all the aspects of the midgardian civilisation into what he knew, and what he didn’t know. Nevertheless the sun had surely but vividly begun to rise on the horizon. It sent some frays towards Loki, who basked in the sunlight. He didn’t have a problem with cold, but if it got to hot he could get nauseous, though as he grew older and his magic got stronger it happened less frequently. He never knew why, it just happened. He remembered the last time he had asked his father about it. The all-father had gotten so angry with him, questioning on how he could ask such stupid questions. Loki was distressed and ran from the room in a hurry, with tears falling down his face. After that Loki had stopped asking why he was different from others.

 

He was taking out from his stream of thoughts, when there was someone opening the door. Turning around he saw that it was the mortal with the beard, and the clever looking eyes.

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

Tony waked up baked in sweat. Another nightmare. His time in Afghanistan. He didn’t want to think about it. But he also couldn’t get himself out of bed, before the lights were on (just to be sure).

 

“Jarv, turn on the lights” he was answered when the lights immediately started to turn on. Now when he was certain that he was in fact home, and not _there,_ could he get up without any trouble. He had given up on the thought of some extra hours of sleep; he needed to drown his thoughts before he could even begin to think about that. He had fallen asleep with his usual clothes on, cuz’ he had simply been too tired to do it, when he actually had gotten to bed. God it had been a hectic night. He just hoped he could clear away from that; he really needed some peace right now, and a drink, definitely a drink, and NOT some Asgardian family drama. Don’t mistake this, he was sort of happy that Thor had come to them. Even though their time together had been little, he had begun to miss point break and his Shakespearian speech. Though he wasn’t that glad that Thor had taken someone else with him. It wasn’t that he hated the kid; he just had some difficulty seeing the kid and not the madman. That would take time, but at some point he was sure it would, but yes it would take some time, and he would also have to talk to him. Talking to him; that was something that Stark quite looked forward to. So many questions that Loki could answer, so many answers he could provide him. Finally. He had been working with some readings from the invasion, on how his magic worked, but with the source here, it could be a lot easier to finally get results.

 

 

He made his way down the corridor that lead to the kitchen. His mind was still hazy so he didn’t notice the dark shape at first. He made his way to the alcohol cupboard. Pepper had tried to steal it several times, or made that he couldn’t get into the cabinet. However she did that Tony had no idea, but he suspected he needed to be angry at Jarvis, and probably make his alcohol stash a little safer. Somehow he hadn’t done it yet, why he didn’t know, he just hadn’t. he poured himself a glass of his favourite scotch, and then he made his way over to the refrigerator, and that was when he noticed. What the holy fuck?

 

“Oh hey, what are you doing out here, its freezing? Don’t you want to come back inside?” okay so in truth he was kinda afraid to go out there by himself, the kid was still a god, and could probably throw him over the edge if he wanted to. But he was also kinda worried about the kid, and though he was reluctant to admit it, he weren’t so scared of him, as he had been before. Though it would take some time, for him to completely trust him, yet.

 

“Mortal. I was just looking. I got bored, and”-said Loki as he was trying to compose himself. He didn’t want the mortal to think he was going to make trouble, he didn’t seem to like him, and he didn’t wish to make matters worse.

 

“Its Stark, Tony Stark, but you can just call me Stark. What were you doing out here anyways? Its freaking cold” asked Tony as he opened the door, from the inside. “You do remember that you wouldn’t have been able to get in without someone else’s help right?

 

“Yes I did realize that, I just couldn’t seem to care” honest Loki didn’t realize that, but he put on his best face, so the mortal didn’t think him weak. It was a trick he had taught himself a long time ago, certainly longer than he hold accounts for. As a prince of Asgard he had to stay strong stealthy and fight for himself. Loki although wary went over to the door, where the mortal, Stark he reminded himself, stood.

 

“How long have you been out here anyways?” asked Tony as he made room for Loki. “And why aren’t you asleep, I’m sure small children like you needs lots of sleep” god he hoped that last comment hadn’t made the god angry, it was luck that he was inside and not outside. Luckily the god didn’t seem to care that much, then again Tony couldn’t really read Loki that well.

“As for your reference to my age, i’m more than centuries old, and therefore no kid.”… “You sure you aren’t talking about yourself” asked Loki hesitantly he didn’t want to anger Stark, but he needed to know what buttons he could push, and more importantly what buttons he shouldn’t push.

 

“Hehhhh, don’t get cocky with me little kid, trust me it’s a battle you will lose.” Tony had just started to like the kid a little tiny bit more, perhaps this kid would be fun ( _he threw you out of a window)_ “What were you doing out there anyways?”

 

“Nothing important. Just got bored, and wanted to get some air.” Loki answered. He still wasn’t sure what the mortals, Stark’s, motives were, and he was going to find out, given an amount of time. “Besides I woke up, and I wanted to see what Thor liked about this realm”

 

”To give you the answer to that question, is gonna take all night, well day, given the time” This was going to be fun. “So kiddo have you ever tried the earthly cuisine named coffee?” He figured at Loki’s shake of head that the answer was no; apparently they didn’t have all in Asgardian wonderland. “Come let me introduce you, she is a sworn ally of mine.”

 

Loki followed the man into the room that apparently functioned as a kitchen. The kitchen was small compared to the one in the palace. And there were no servants running around trying to please him.

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

Most of the Avengers had sleeping issues, either they woke up early, or they never really slept (though that was mostly just Tony, and sometimes even Hawkeye) Natasha and Steve liked to train and/or run first thing in the morning. Steve because he liked the early streets of New York. Streets that weren’t crowded with hardworking people and pedestrians, to engulfed in their mobile to even notice their surroundings.

Natasha liked to spar in the training floor by herself, something she did to clear her mind, before starting the day. Barton, whom usually woke up around 4-5-ishl, immediately followed her, and from then on they usually spared together. Tony’s sleeping schedule was a whole other thing. Sometimes he wouldn’t have slept in days, other days he had drowned himself in alcohol (something that greatly worried them and Pepper) and some days he slept the whole day away. So they were never surprised when they met Stark working in his laboratory at any given time, either fallen asleep or wide awake with a sea of empty coffee cups surrounding him. Bruce was the one that slept the most, though he never confirmed it, they all suspected that it was because that holding down the Hulk took energy, and therefore he got tired more easily. But sometimes he would wake up early, like any normal person would. When that happened he would join Stark in the lab, trying to goad him to bed, and if that didn’t work out he would help him, so Stark would go to bed faster, than if he was alone. So when Bruce woke up it wasn’t weird that he went for the elevator that could take him to the lab, which was were he was going, when he noticed the light emitting from the kitchen. Wondering who would be up at this ungodly hour besides Tony made he his way to the door. It was safe to say he hadn’t considered that he would stumble upon something the likes of what he saw now.

 

 

 

\-->*_*<\--

”Are you hungry? Because I know I am, what do you want to try, what sort of food do you even have in Asgard? I bet there are wild boars, perhaps even goats, do you have goats in Asgard, I be you have given the mythology.

\-->*_*<\--

”I’m not that particularly hungry, not right now at the very least.” Murmured Loki. “As for the animals yes we do have boars, and goats, given that it was us that gave you the goats at the start” This mortal had many questions- _what are your purpose? –_ He wondered- _what do you want from me?_ – Then why ask, does he know that I am a gifted liar, and thus can twist any words I may see fit?

\-->*_*<\--

“What so you’re saying goats are aliens? He smiled; oh he knew this was going to be fun. Though he weren’t ready to drop his guard just yet. “Can you find the eggs?” Stark pointed towards the grey metal box standing enclosed by cupboards around it. “They are at the top shelf”. He hoped Loki wouldn’t kill him he if he screwed up. He wasn’t exactly the best cook, far from it in fact.

 

_How can you even burn pancakes? It was Barton’s voice “like how???! They are the hardest food to ever burn? What will we do now?_

_“Relax I will just get Pepper to pick some food up”_

_“Tony please don’t ever cook for us again, this is worse than the time with_ _Shashlyik.”_

_“I did warn you didn’t I, besides it’s not entirely my fault. It was Bruce that made them taste this bad I just burned them. In truth I just did you all a favor, now you don’t have to eat them._

 

After that incident they had agreed that it was going to be Steve Clint, and Natasha that cooked. So Tony was sort of glad that he was in the kitchen at all, though it was just for eggs and coffee. Perhaps he wouldn’t burn anything this time. If he did he hoped that Loki wouldn’t kill him. It was kinda hard to figure out when it was gonna be a good cooking day for him, and when it wasn’t. His cooking and his sleep should really get together for a long chat, about keeping him healthy.

 

Loki looked like he had never seen a refrigerator before. Then again he did life in medieval warrior town, so that would probably explain it. He did seem to figure it out pretty quickly though. Perhaps they have something similar in Asgard, he would have to ask that later. _What the hell, are those red eyes?!_

 

\-->*_*<\--

Loki had no idea what the metal box’s purpose was, nor did he know what it was. In Asgard they used magic or orbs to keep their food cold. He found the handle that was presumably used to open the box with. Cold air spat against him- _red eyes_ \- it was gone the next second, and Loki could not be sure if what he had seen was just a figment of his imagination- _people tell their children about at night-_ whatever that thought was he could not remember it, only fleeting, like something had pulled it away. The eggs, in his brief gesture of panic, had been dropped. Now they lay smashed beyond, non-edible. The mortal seemed to find it funny, though there was a hint of fear in his eyes. Mortals really were peculiar.

 

“Never mind the eggs then. You up for some toast instead? You can have whatever you want on it, though I don’t know if you know what kind of stuff I am talking about”.

 

”I would like to try the same thing you are” Loki was still unsure of what these “stuff” were, and he would not take his chances. And he still wasn’t quite sure if what the Midgardian’s called food that was what the Asgardian’s called garbage.

 

 

”Well then sweet stuff for us” Tony sensed that the kid was holding back. Perhaps even kid-Loki needed time to adjust. God he was beginning to get a headache. Obviously the kid was eager to understand everything, so why he was so closed off was beyond him. Of course Tony wasn’t still quite convinced that this was the same god that had attacked New York, it had only been six months ago, and it was still rebuilding after the mass of property loss. These two seemed like Yin and Yang. The Loki that invaded was mad to his bones. The Hulk was even able to smell it on him. But this kid. This kid was closed off but still easier to read than the old-Loki, he was eager to learn, but didn’t want to seem eager. It was like a dog that had gotten his ass kicked to many times and was now afraid to do anything. There still was some striking similarities, but that was mostly in looks and nothing else. He just had to accept that the same screwed up guy/god, was innocent once too. Of course he also had to consider the fact that the bloody guy had been tortured, and that was bound to leave some marks on a soul _speak for yourself._ And he was freaking flying fuck mind controlled! No one deserved that, no one!

 

The toaster made the usual annoying noise to signal it was done, and they both rushed over. Tony because he was actually crazy hungry, and he wanted to know if he had been successful or he had to prepare for an attack, and Loki because he had never seen a machine such as this.

 

\-->*_*<\--

While they ate the room was filled with silence, it wasn’t a heavy silence, just one that signalled that you were too busy doing something else. Loki liked the strange substance that was upon his bread. It was sticky and had a sweet taste. Stark had called it Nutella. Loki had never tasted it, and at first he was wary, but then curiosity had taken over and he needed to know, how this could make the mortal smile so much. He had always had a sweet tooth, more so than Thor’s, though he was never really allowed to satisfy it. _A prince has to eat meat not sweets- a prince needs to be big and strong just look at Thor._ Those words had stung at the time, now he mostly ignored them.

 

In an effort to break the ice, that had formed between them asked Tony “So Loki, why were you up?” Any kind of silence was his worst enemy, and something he hated, perhaps even more than press conferences.

 

“Why would I tell you, I have only met you just now, and already you seem so keen on asking me question”

 

“What can I say? I’m a curious guy with no ulterior motives than getting my own curiosity satisfied.

 

Loki didn’t seem too sure about him, but after a while and probably some thoroughly contemplating he answered: “Like you I couldn’t sleep, and wanted to look upon Midgard. I hope that will satisfy your curiosity”. This mortal really were different, still he did not believe his words just yet.

 

“Oh yeah totally didn’t see that coming” sarcastic, classis Tony, though Loki didn’t seem to keen on his sarcasm, or he didn’t notice it, probably more likely that. Given that he was a god, and based on Thor they probably didn’t have sarcasm in warrior land.

 

After that Tony’s sworn enemy reappeared. Only to be destroyed when another member of the tower arrived to their little get-to-know-a-former-crazed-psychopath talk. There was a lot of questions Tony wanted to ask, but given his reaction to the less personal ones, he doubt he would even consider answering the ones he had in mind. Luckily a little green bird saved them.

 

 

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

”Tony, you already up? You sure you don’t need some more sleep, you have been up for nights-” came Bruce’s voice just as he entered the kitchen area-“oh hey Loki, why are you up, please don’t say that Tony here have been pestering you with all kinds of questions. By the way i’m Bruce Banner AKA The Hulk, but you can just call me Bruce.

 

“That’s cold Brucie, don’t you trust me at all?”

 

“Yes but I also know your desire to know things, and why are you already up, don’t tell me you never went to bed?

 

“Brucie you know me so well. Besides yes I did go to sleep, but then I woke up, and I find this little guy out on the balcony.”

 

 

Bruce wasn’t really surprised that Tony was already up, but he hadn’t expected him to be together with Loki. Yeah sure Tony was a curious guy, and all that, Bruce had just hoped he would sleep the entire night. But then again perhaps Tony could sort of see himself in Loki’s shoes. They had both suffered through torture, and even though the god couldn’t remember any of it, it still happened, and perhaps the thought that he wasn’t alone could help Tony heals some more.

 

”Any particular reason you’re both up- Tony shook his head- if you don’t want to answer that’s fine by me… us.”

 

“As I told Stark before I simply woke up, and decided I wanted to discover some of this new Midgard.”

 

“What do you think, about Midgard then?”

 

“It… It has evolved much. The last time I came here, was under the witch-hunts. But now… it has changed… there are more life, than I have ever seen in one city. There are always people on the ground, and always sounds to be heard, things to be discovered and books to read. I quite like it”

 

“I am glad to hear that. Speaking of books. Tony here has a library, perhaps you would like to see it some time?”

 

“I would appreciate the gesture”

 

“Great. I think Thor will be up soon, perhaps you would like for him to be with you”

 

“ I can take care of myself, but… when time arrives would you like to take me to this library of Starks?”

 

“Yeah sure”

 

“Brucie we need to discuss what we are gonna do when Barton, Natasha and Rogers will get back” Tony said in a low voice so the god couldn’t hear him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> glad you read this far, no like seriously glad :))
> 
> thanks yo anyone that reads this mess of a fic and to all the amazing persons that makes bookmarks and/or Kudos- you are fuelling my writing so thank you for that  
> *hands you a cupcake and a hug*
> 
> also for anyone who is wondering what the hell Shashlyik its russian food
> 
> edit: the new chapter will be up in a bout a week, sorry i havent updated yet. but i have been too busy with homework, and i had a whole week of writers block... so yeah really sorry, hope you havent given up in me yet.
> 
> also i would like to hear your meanings/opinions and/or how i can do better :)))


	4. Loki, The Hulk, Stark and a library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki talks with Bruce and Stark, finds out they have a library, and Loki do loves his libraries. Thor leaves for Asgard, and Loki is left to be with the Avengers

* * *

 

 

Between Thor and Loki, was Thor the worst of them to wake up early. The only reason for when he chose to wake up early, was when he had to go to the training field, were the Warriors Three and Sif, would join him soon after. Loki would come to join them, when he was done with his own classes. When Loki came off age, and he began to crave his brother’s attention, started he to train more, with or without anyone’s help. For many years Loki’s mornings, would consist of harsh training, until he truly discovered his talent for magic.

Then he would focus most of his attention on the Arts, than he would his training. Something that almost always earned him disapproving looks, and remarks, from the people of Asgard except for his mother, whom was the only one that told him he could do with magic. Meanwhile Loki got better at magic, Thor would get better at sword fighting, but even with all his strong magic, Loki still weren’t worthy in the eyes of his brother and his friends.

No matter what Loki did it still wasn’t, if he used magic as a way of fighting his opponent, were he told that it was cowardly, but if he used his fighting skills without his magic, were he told that he was weak and fragile. This was something Loki had endured for however long he could remember. Thor first realized it when it was too late, and by then Loki had already fallen off the Bifrost and into the dark Abyss that would lead to his hell. This was something Thor knew, and that was also the reason why it made great sense, for him to blame himself. After all it was mostly his fault, that Loki had endured so much, both by his own hands and others, while he just stood there not realizing the hurt his brother were going through.

 

Now Thor wanted to change, he wanted to finally do right by Loki. It cut his heart in two to know, that now that he had finally gotten his brother back, he would have to leave him. There was no telling how much time he would spend on Asgard, but Loki weren’t safe there, not anymore.

They, his mother and his father, had seen this coming a long way off. The Bifrost was done in a hurry, even though it was still incomplete, it could manage, with an unknown enchantress help, to send them off to Midgard. There had always been snickers behind Loki’s back, but they feared that it would greatly worsen because of his crimes against Midgard. They would call him, abomination, monster disguised as a child; still it came as a surprise, when one of the guards heard a rumour concerning the killing of a certain monster. That was when Thor reconciled with the thought of leaving Asgard, even though he hated the thought, all he had wanted for Loki was to be loved. Still it weren’t safe for Loki, his presence alone awakened some of the hatred, the people of Asgard still hold in their heart for their wayward prince.

So with torment in his heart Thor called for Heimdall, to open the Bifrost for them. He knew that Loki looked bewildered, but he simply couldn’t explain it to him, it would grip all of their progress and tear it from them. The consequences were unknown and Thor didn’t in the whole of the nine realms wanted to test it. The only thing Loki needed to know right now, was that they were going on an adventure, something that in a way they did. The Bifrost singed from raw energy and off they were too Midgard, or earth as the residents called it.

 

Thor had gone through these thoughts many times before Loki had awoken. At the time he had thought it would be a simple task. It was far from it, indeed. This “new” Loki was already old, and therefore they could only assume, that he already had gone through hardships. Torment, that Thor was deeply ashamed to say, mostly consisted from words that had come out of his own mouth. There was a lot of broken trust that needed to be healed, and many memories that needed to be repaired. Understandably it would take time, but time was the only thing they didn’t have. There was no doubt that a great force would come. When was something that needed to be answered. When the time did come Thor would take deep pleasure in draining the blood from its body. Even with Loki thinking him stupid, sometimes Thor could be very clever. Not on the most basic, and he was always the worst to control his feelings, and let them take the better of him. It was easy to say that Loki still needed to get used to the circumstance, and that he didn’t trust him yet, something that Thor could only understand, he only wanted to make up for what he had done a long time pass.

 

**Four hours before Loki woke up:**

 

Thor was unable to fall asleep with too many thoughts rummaging through his heard. He had tossed and turned in his bed hundred of times, but was still unable to find rest. It was only if he thought of one name only, that he could hunt all his stray thoughts down. Under the invasion and his fight against Loki, had he believed he was too far gone into his own madness and there was no way for him to get his old brother back. Then Loki was thrown into his cell, and Thor thought he would finally see the wrong from his actions. Alas that didn’t happen, Loki broke out, how was still yet to be discovered, and Thor was yet again brought to believe there truly was no hope for Loki. Then under their fight Thor noticed the colour struggle in his eyes. One eyes switched between green and blue, it didn’t seem to stop until one of the guards knocked Loki unconsciousness, and they began to prepare for some long and frustrating months ahead of them, as they began to search for the cure for Loki’s supposed madness.

When Thor realized, what was wrong in the deep dark quarters inside Loki’s head, made him overjoyed. The thought of him getting his brother back send waves of happiness through his system. At first he didn’t even stop to think about Loki’s pain that he would have to have endured. Then he started pondering over it, there had been a whole year where Loki had been thought of dead, decomposed into the blackness of the void. There was no concept of time in the void, so it was hard to tell how much “time” there would have gone for Loki. He may never know what had truly happened to his brother, and he couldn’t very well ask the little one, the consequences would be severe and unknown. He could deduce from the facts, that Loki had spent time in the void only to end of in the Chitauri Homeworld. If they went further down that train of thoughts path would it seem to only make sense, that he Chitauri Homeworld would be the place Loki had been transformed into the madness he had been. He had no knowledge of the Chitauri only the things he had seen, but from what he had seen, it had been a primitive race, desperate for someone to rule them, but they did not seem like the kind of raise who would have a sceptre so powerful. So who was the master behind the chessboard? Time would surely tell, but by then it might as well be too late already. Time was at the essence and they had no idea when to begin.

 

Darkness finally overcame the pestering of his thoughts, and an old friend named dream greeted him. The dreams switched between good and bad scenarios, the good would be followed by bad, and so forth the circle continued. Finally he found himself in a dream free world, full of peace and pure blissful darkness.

**Now in the kitchen area**

→*_*←

Bruce and Loki continued to talk about his library. It was a miracle how they could fit in a five-minute conversation about books. He could understand if it had anything to do with scienc-y stuff or Loki’s way of fucking of his entire view of the world, but they just talked about ordinary books, how they managed it was truly beyond Tony. Tony was the kind of man that hated small talk, but silence was his number one enemy too, so it was safe to say that Tony Stark was a complex man with a complex brain.  
Even though he would never come to admit it out loud was Tony happy for the situation. Who would have thought that he would come to now two demigods, one who had tried to take over the earth and the other fought to protect it, and he would end up befriending both of them, certainly not. There was something peaceful about this, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. . Even though he wanted to tell the former crazy-let-me-take-over-the-world-villain and a man that could literally turn into a big green rage monster and probably kill him, to just shut the fuck up but yeah it was peaceful

Point break was taking his time waking up, not that Tony was actually complaining, he had long time ago deduced that Thor was a heavy sleeper. Sure he still needed to see this Loki, and not the other one, but he could already feel that time creep closer. Still it was hard for him, Bruce seemed to be doing okay with the whole Loki situation, but not Tony. It was clear to him that this Loki wasn’t anything alike the old one at all, and he even knew that Loki had been an involuntary volunteer for the whole invasion scheme, and that he had gone through some deep shit was it still hard for him to see the new one, and not the old one. Every time he tried to really see beneath the old one and get a glimpse of the new one remembered he his own suffering, both from Afghanistan and his time in a different interstellar plane. It still haunted his nights, and he blamed Loki for many of his sleepless nights that were filled with remembrances of darkness and nothingness.

 

He knew it was totally stupid, but he was unable to let it go. The only explanation his supposed genius mind could muster up was: “because it’s all you know”, which partly made sense, but then again Tony had always been good at adapting, so why wouldn’t his mental health just follow his lead? He had the Avengers though. Sometimes the very team he had grown to love would be annoying as hell, and the only thing on his mind was to shut them up with whatever needs necessary. Other times they would know just the right thing to say to make him feel welcomed. Hmph sort of like a family, then. If they were a family they would be the most fucked up family in the whole of USA. Then again all the best people were always a little fucked up weren’t they? The entire team was made of fuck up’s, somehow it brought them closer together like they had a certain kind of understanding and connection towards each other. A connection he hadn’t experienced before, not even with Pepper.

 

His relationship with Pepper had been great, and it had been just what he had needed, but then good old Tony had gone back to his self-destructive behaviour and screwed it all up. He blamed himself for failing Pepper, understandably. He had been happy with her; he just wasn’t able to stop himself. Not after the invasion, and the following nights of dreams full of nothingness. Pepper had noticed his pull back form social interaction and the whole prospect of understanding his own pain.

She had tried to get him to talk about it, but Tony really wasn’t the man to talk with others. He was more likely to die from a shark attack than it was likely that he would ever seek out help willingly. The whole talk about your feelings kinda thing just wasn’t him. He was more a drown your worried in a totally unhealthy manner person. He had begun to show reckless behaviour, and he drank every night before he fell asleep. Even Brucie had tried to get him to talk, and then Pepper had had enough when he nearly died by Doombots. It wasn’t meant to happen, his sight just blacked out for a second, and he hadn’t seen it coming. It was then that he realized he had a problem. He had trapped down on his drinking by a few glasses, and even though it weren’t much it made his health like him more.

 

He turned back to Loki and Bruce’s conversation. Apparently it had gone from books to literature, to plays and poetry, and then full circle back again. He still wondered how they could talk about any kinds of books; it was like the two of them were a walking encyclopaedia full of books. In his youth Tony too had been interested in books, but already back there it was still for science and not for pleasure reading, though he might start that up when he got older. Back in his youth he had always wanted to impress his father, be better than everyone, but even when he was better at everyone he still wasn’t good enough, then he ended up dead, and Tony had to find a new place in the world.

 

Those times where over now, now he didn’t care about wanting to impress everyone, he just wanted to save the world, and be the hero everyone wants him to be. His hero-ness had become a part of him, being Iron Man was practically his whole being. He was Iron Man and Iron Man was him, something he was greatly proud of. For so long he had been the villain in so many tales, but now he could save lives, and that was really all that mattered to him. Stark industries had killed so many people, but finally those days were over.

_HE_  
_COULD_  
_FINALLY_  
_DO_  
_GOOD_

Apparently the two besties had gone from talking about plays to talk about Shakespeare. How could an alien warrior even know about Shakespeare? Yet another question was added to his mental “to ask” note. He decided he had to break up the conversation, before they were unable to stop. Because yes that did happen, himself and Bruce could talk for hours about the latest discovery in their little science team, they would miss meals, because they had simply lost track of time. One day they had been so invested in their talk, that Tony hadn’t noticed the warning on his screen; it was only when Jarvis interrupted them that they were able to let go of the conversation.

 

“Lokes, I would love to pick your brain on your culture up there in warrior country”

“I don’t want to get my brain picked at”. This man’s speech was strange, why would he hack at his brain?

“You aliens and your no-knowledge of earthly culture”

“What Tony tried to say but failed, was that he would like to ask you some questions, to understand Asgard better”

 

→*-*←

“I see. Well then I would love for my brain to be this picked at”. Loki said wondering if they really just wanted to use him, just like all the others, just like his own family, and just like the whole of Asgard. Deep down they never really did care for him, not these new people; no one ever truly did care for him. How stupid he had been to think they actually liked him. He really should stop thinking people actually cared, when they so obviously didn’t. After all he was the prince that weren’t loved, the one that couldn’t fight and the one that never could measure up to anyone’s expectation, the broken toy that no one cared for. The son that was only for show, never really good at combat. To think people might have changed.

It was only then that he realized the tiny flicker of hope he had had was now nearly gone. He had been so stupid. Thor had been different, so it would only make sense everyone had too. He liked Brucie, the mortal with the odd name, he was fun to talk too, and perhaps he would be worth another one of those conversations.

He had read some midgardian books from the palace library, and a few he had “borrowed” from other realms. There weren’t many only about the near hundred.  
Midgard had always been an unremarkable realm. Always neutral, never even known they had a connection to something bigger than themselves. It was first now eons since the beginning that they had for a first time seen a being from another realm. The children in Asgard grew up with stories of multiple different races that roamed throughout the Yggdrasil, on how the Jötuun’s were barbaric, or how in Svartalfheimr resided dwarves with master in blacksmith- Do not ponder on it, move on, it does not matter- how the dwarves could be barbaric at times-MOVE ON. No one cares. Just continue. They need not know-.

“Instead Tony, I think it would a better idea to go the library first, if you want to of course Loki” Something was definitely off, Bruce couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but Loki went from happy to disgruntled in less than a second, and he feared it was something they had said.  
“Oh yeah, then Lokes here can see my amazing collections of books” Tony had noticed it too, something was different about the way Loki behaved. Before he had been welcome, sure he still had his parades up, but the kid didn’t know them yet, but then he had gone to be closed off by the second. It was frustrating to say the least, and Tony wanted to figure the mystery out and in the process perhaps he could help him a little.

 

“I… Yes. We can do that” Loki was bewildered, had they not just said they wanted to interrogate him? Why did they suddenly show affection towards him, did they want something, or had they simply changed their tactic?

These mortal they were truly confusing. He couldn’t see what their possible angle could be, and that deeply dismayed him. If he didn’t know how they were planning to use him, it would put him at a great disadvantage when he worked against it.

 

They made their way towards Stark’s library. In truth Loki did look forward to reading more midgardian books, though it could be a future weakness if he ever admitted to it. He wanted to know about this new Midgard. When he first read about Midgard he immediately disliked them, in mostly every book he had read that described their history were they portrayed as savages that were unable to accept differences, and killed the people that stood against them. Throughout their entire history, that he knew of, they had hunted down humans, and the only thing they cared for was their own survival. But as he saw them now were they different than he first thought them to be, and he did not know what to make off them yet. The first time he had come to Midgard was during a troublesome time, the humans had hunted people down with differences that the hunted would be unable to control in the first place, it was misunderstanding after misunderstanding, and people suffered by the stupid men that sought to kill them.

 

**Southwest Germany around 1645**

He landed in the cold and vast land that was Midgard. He heard yells. How stupid he had been to come here, in the middle of the day, he had been discovered. The humans were frightened and immediately set out to follow his trail. His feet sunk into the snowy terrain and left his footstep for his followers. He ran past trees, the branches seeming to reach out and grab him and holding him back. He crossed over a small lake, hoping it would confuse the followers. It didn’t for long. They crossed the narrow lake and immediately after sought after him.

The breath in his lungs began to hurt. His throat was beginning to cramp, and his legs were slowly giving up. He had to find shelter, a safe shelter, where they would be unable to follow him. Why had he even wanted to come here? He had been forbidden, but still here he was without Thor or anyone. They most likely didn’t miss him, rejoicing in his time away, not even caring that something was awry.

He reached a small mountain down at a clearing between the trees. He could only hope that he would be able to find a small cave. With great effort he pulled himself onto a cliff, and from there he made his way upwards until he found a cave that could be used. He was craving for water, and some substance, he hadn’t eaten since he had arrived.

 

W  
A  
T  
E  
R

He woke up by the sounds of footsteps stomping from the start of the entrance. Gripped tight by fear he searched for his magic. It wouldn’t bow to his will, he reached out but he was unable to grasp the straw, if it was because of exhaustion or that he couldn’t think straight was a question he didn’t know the answer too. The sound came closer as he moved further into the cave, but he weren’t fast enough…

Who was that screaming? Was it he?

Where had they taken him?  
Cut down trees were all around him.  
The smell of burnt flesh hanged thick in the air.  
Wonder what human has went ahead and gone to Helheimr.

He did not want to be burned.

IT HURTED  
HURTED

The flames were like tongues that licked his every pore- He screamed- do not think about it.

He cried now, the flames licked their way up at the stake. He tore at his bounds but the rope wouldn’t give in. the tears swished as they reached the flames. The mortal’s were laughing at him, no wait. They screamed. Green encased them, licked at them, tasting, then it hit. Green was all around him. The red was all gone from him now. The screams drowned out everything else. Loki couldn’t make out his own from them. He was still screaming when a shadow put his cape around him.

The smell of burnt flesh hanged in the air. The air seemed to simmer from the overload of heat that was around them. Green flames were still to be noticed in small places were they had yet to burn out. When had there been green flames?

There was no hunters laughing at him anymore, in their stead there was burnt out bones and remnants of old clothing that had somehow survived –survived what? – There was no snow or grass for that matter in a circle around him, now there was burnt grass and blackness that perhaps could rival that of death. The shadow carried him in his arms. Loki could feel the heart of the yet unfamiliar warrior, but somehow it sounded familiar.

 

His lower paints and boots were burnt whole, though nothing but soot was imprinted on his legs up to his stomach. There was a few burn marks but not as much as would have been.

When he woke up he felt all kinds off drained. It was like a Bilgesnipe had trampled all over him the whole nightlong and then more. The bed he was in was his very own bed; there was no snow around him only the familiar room he called home. Still the scent of burned clothes was still in the air, it was like it followed him. He faintly noticed someone was sitting at his chair beside him. He tried to get up, but he found he didn’t have the strength from it.

“Boy, by the Norns what were you thinking? To even go down there, and I thought I had raised you to be smarter than this. Thor was worried sick, and too think you could have done something so foolish!” Odin was truly furious at his s o n, to think he had been so stupid. He shouldn’t even have gotten caught in the first place, and now the poor mortals had to pay the price for his own s o n ‘ s foolishness.

 

-“I’m sorry father I didn’t mean for it to go so wrong, I only wanted to get away and see Midgard for my own eyes. After all you have always said “you must see before you know” muttered Loki.

“Do not turn my own words against me you fool. You could have been killed, and to think you would try to explain your foolish behaviour. It seems I have thought to highly of you. To think my own son can be mindless” he really should raise Loki better, to think he could even think about putting him through this.

 

“I understand father”

“Your punishment will be decided by the royal council, I wish to not deal with this right now”

 

“Yes father,” muttered Loki, trying hard not to notice the fear in his gut.

 

**Now in the library:**

The Stark library had variously different books, some of them he had already read, and there were books that he had never seen before in his immortal life. There even was some books with childish like drawings, and small books with smooth pages that consisted of pictures he would deem unworthy of the title “library book”.

Most of the books he already knew he had taken from the royal library, but there were also books that he had read that he didn’t see in this vast collection. He now realized that the books they had from this realm was sparse, and that Asgard should find more time investing in smaller realms than their own. In Loki’s eyes didn’t Stark seem like the man that read all that much, meanwhile Bruce or Brucie, the varity of names this man had were spectacular and confusing in the whole, seemed more like the mortal that read.

Stark had a different name too. Though he didn’t think he were permitted to use it. The mortal himself had said so “you can just call me Stark” or the likes of that sentence. He weren’t sure if they would get mad at him if he spontaneously said Tony instead of Stark. Perhaps he would be discarded. They would get tired of him and then run back to Thor leaving him behind.

 

When he thought further about Thor, should he not soon wake up? Then at a second thought he had always been the heavy sleeper of those two. When they were out in dangerous territories Thor’s sleeping often resulted in Loki having to wake up, at the nick of time. An action that sometimes made Thor mad because after Loki was done there would be no trace of the assailant, which meant that Thor thought he was lying. After some time he had stopped going all in their battles. Which sometimes resulted in him being scolded because an enemy had slipped past him.

He never could quite understand how he was the one being scolded when it was as much as Thor’s fault than it was his. Later in his life he had come to see that, that was just how it was, and no matter how much he wanted to change it no one wanted to change it for him. Thor was the favourite and he would always be the favourite, and he would always get what he wanted, while Loki was left to deal with the mess. If the clean up weren’t good enough or he did something that somehow made them mad at him, he would be scolded or worse punished.

It was at times like those, when Loki felt truly hopeless, that he sought his refuge in the library. No one could find him if he didn’t want to be found, of course there were rare occasions where Thor would be able to found him. Other times he had gotten careless and he didn’t think that someone would even look for him. Some times Thor wanted for him to join him on the combat field, and other times he wanted for him to come with him on an adventure. According to Thor he needed to be better at not just the womanly arts, and he was too fragile for his own wellbeing. If only Thor knew that he could do with one hand, what Thor could do with a sword.

Thor never could see the gracefulness of magic. For him it had always been sword and brute strength that mattered, but Loki knew that life was deeper than that. Though it still hurt when Thor didn’t acknowledge him, just because he wasn’t manly like him. In his thoughts he spit the word out like it was venomous

 

“Have you ever read earthly, uhm midgardian books before Loki?” asked Bruce disrupting Loki’s train of thought.

“There are a few on Asgard, and I have collected a few from other realms as well, but its no where near as many as there are here” Loki paused in his explanation, he was debating over if he should end it there or if he should continue, but then he decided might as well be kind towards the mortal, Bruce he reminded himself. “Out of those books only a handful are collected by true midgardian’s, and therefore most of them is written from another realms perspective of you. But myself have read all of the books about Midgard that was known to us at the time. It is not near the amount of books that I have read from other realms, since there is many that thinks of Midgard as unimportant. “ He finished. By the Norns he had talked too much, and the last sentence might be considered rude, but it truly hadn’t been his intention. He wasn’t even sure if they still were unimportant based on what he had seen so far, the mortals had grown a lot since he last knew of them.

“Hehhh, unimportant you say? Tony said with a devilish smirk on his lips as he was interrupted by Bruce-

 

“Tony don’t get any funny ideas, we don’t want an interstellar crisis on our hands, just because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut”, honestly Bruce had to keep an eye on Tony nearly every hour of the day.

 

“Awwww, Brucie you take all my fun”. Tony said playing along.

“It’s what I am best at,” said Bruce now himself smirking.

 

The mortals were some of the most confusing creatures he had met, one second they talked about books, and then the next they talked about a possible crisis, perhaps they thought he would cause on in his stay here?

 

“You can find whichever book you might find interesting, then if you find you actually don’t like it just pick another. I have a endless supply of books, and if you need me to get one home just say the word and I will have it by the hour” explained Tony, hopefully he didn’t scare Loki of with all his “non-Shakespearian” talk. Then again who was he kidding this was Loki; it wasn’t like Loki would be scared off by having to pick a book.

 

Following the mortal’s, Stark’s, instructions he found a book that might satisfy his needs. After some time he found a book named High Rise. He didn’t know if it was really in his taste, but he quite liked the dystopian front cover.

 

→*_*←

 

Thor woke up in two states. Fist state was flustered. Mainly because he didn’t see Loki beside him and that left him worried about him. Second state, probably also due to why he was so flustered, he was hungry. Now Thor wasn’t the only Asgardian with a big stomach, but midgardian food just wasn’t the right for him. Compared to Asgard, and the food he usually ate, it was low on energy and protein, in other words the things that basically kept him “up and running” he was pretty sure that, that was the midgardian word for it.

 

Thor was sure that since Loki had woken up before him, he too had been hungry. So with that train of thought, he made his way down to the room, where he thought that the kitchen would lay. Since he hadn’t lived in the Stark Tower for near as long as the others, he had near to no idea, on how to navigate throughout the big building, and even his own floor. The floor was filled with rooms that seemed unnecessary, even to a crown prince of Asgard. He knew that Stark was something called a billionaire, but it was beyond him how one human could think, they would need so many rooms that looked identical.  
The fact that nearly all the rooms but a few rooms looked the same, caused him to take the wrong turn many times, and it was only because of Jarvis, Starks helpful servant, that he eventually located the kitchen.

When there was no sign of Loki in the kitchen, he begun to get worried. Surely the men of this tower, had just taken him somewhere, but he still wasn’t comfortable with letting him go anywhere. For starters they weren’t sure if the spell would backfire, and he had just gotten him back, and for whatever reason he didn’t want to lose him. It might sound selfish, but he had missed his brother dearly between the time of his fall to the invasion.

It had broken his heart when Loki, his very own brother, had said they weren’t brothers at all. Thor now understood the complexity of Loki’s “situation”, and that it weren’t entirely his words, but nevertheless it still hurt. To Thor Loki and him would always be brothers, no matter what would get between them. They had been raised together, and had fought together, it was only now that Thor truly and fully saw the hurt he had been causing Loki in all those years long past. Something that greatly saddened him was that if only he had seen through his own selfish desires, and seen that Loki was there as well, so much could have been changed. Perhaps they wouldn’t have been in this position; perhaps they would have been a loving functional family, but alas it did not go that way, and the only thing he could do, was to survive, and make Asgard a safe place for Loki again.

Some guards had heard word of that some outsiders of the Asgardian folk, were planning on killing the weakened prince, and they had promptly gone to the queen and king to warn them of the danger lurking in their walls. When Thor had gotten ear of this, he had hurried to Loki’s chambers, and told him to go on an adventure with him. He didn’t like when he had to lie to Loki, but it was a necessary evil in this case.

He went down a long corridor that leads to a room; he had no idea what consisted of. Judging by the talking, he guessed he had finally found the room where Loki and probably the others resided in. At the realization that now that he had found him, his time to go back home had gotten closer and his smile quickly turned upside down.

He wasn’t all to comfortably leaving Loki with the Avengers, he knew that some may still have a problem with him, something that Thor hardly judged, he only wanted for Loki to be welcome somewhere other than Asgard, as the very same place that should be welcome to him, weren’t at the moment. His only hope was that Banner and Stark would be as kind to Loki, as they had been when Thor was there. Then perhaps it would go more smoothly when the time came, for the other team members to arrive back from their mission.

“My friends” Thor said as a way of greeting them, as he went into the room, that he now saw was a library. He smiled to himself as he saw that they were surprised buy his sudden entry, except for of course Loki, whom had probably sensed him some time ago.

“Point break, don’t startle me like that, you nearly caused my arc reactor to give out”. Tony said flustered

“I don’t think your arc reactor can give out, just because of a tiny shock Tony. Thor you look hungry, do you want anything to eat, we were just finishing up here anyways, and I can easily show you”. Said Bruce with a poorly hidden smile in his voice.

“Ah yes, I would very much like to eat, have my brother eaten yet?” asked Thor a tinge of worry visible in his tone.

“Don’t worry, Lokes here have already eaten, isn’t that right Lokes?” Tony said with a carefree expression.

“Yes, I have already eaten… Brother” said Loki, finally being drawn into the conversation. Though he sensed that, by Stark’s tone of voice he didn’t have a choice not too answer.

“I am glad, so what kind of food do you have here on Midgard, uhm earth?” asked Thor, as he noticed his stomach started rumbling.

“Buddy let me introduce you to this wonderful thing named coffee” perhaps Thor would like it, he certainly seemed like a coffee-loving guy, though Tony wasn’t sure how he knew that, perhaps he just had a certain kind of intuition regarding coffee.

“Coffee, I think I have heard of that before” Thor said wondering, where he had heard this strange midgardian name before.

They all went back to the kitchen; with Loki following a couple of steps behind them, thinking this was just like before.

 

“This drink, it reminds me much of the one I tried during my earlier visit”. Thor said eagerly. He had missed his shield brothers profoundly, he only wished he would come back soon.

→*_*←

They said there talking about all matters of stuff that Loki wanted no part of, so he tuned out most of the conversation. He sat there in a sort of unresponsive state, just thinking over things, and all the new things he had endured, and had too endure. Loki was good at that, tuning out his surroundings, it worked well in boring meetings that he had too attend, and in no way could get out of. It was during those meetings, he wished he could perform the clone spell, so he could have a substitute him, while he could go out and make mischief and mild chaos around the palace.

 

→*_*←

He faintly noticed the conversation had taken a turn away from Asgard, and had instead turned towards him. At first he hadn’t noticed the change, but when his name came up he became all too aware.

“What, is the problem?” he asked, wondering how they would dare to talk about him, right besides him. They probably just want you to go, so they can discuss matters about you more.

“Nothing in question dear brother, I was simply just telling them the story, off the time we went hunting for wild boar, and my foolishness got us lost in the cold, while your cleverness got us out of it again”

“That story, it was a fairly stupid adventure if I might say so myself, but we were bored, and wanted to get out of the castle” answered Loki monotonously, while he wondered why Thor would let the attention shine on him, instead of himself. He had to remind himself once again, that this was an entirely different version of Thor, than the one he knew.

“But it was adventurous indeed”

“Sounds like you two had a good time”, interrupted Bruce, too him it seemed like Loki was getting colder towards them, but he couldn’t find the reason. Which made him kinda irritated, not at Loki of course, he actually started liking the kid, it was just Loki seemed closed off, and to him it still seemed like he was in a early age, and no kid should be that closed of so early in their youth.

“Oh how time have passed, when you are in well company, I am very sad too say, but while Loki will stay here there are still matters in Asgard I must see too.” Thor said sadly, he truly didn’t want to let Loki be alone here, what must he think at a time like this? The only reason he didn’t stay was that, he knew it would be safer for Loki here for the time being, than in Asgard.

“I am sorry deer brother mine, but with your educational trip here, I too have matters to see too. It saddens me that they are back in Asgard and not here on Midgard, earth” he corrected himself. He hoped that the twist to his words would satisfy Loki for now.

→*_*←

Educational trip? So that is what this was, not some way to get rid of him, that he had first assumed. He was sad that he already had to see this Thor go, but he was determined not to let it see on his face. Facial expression was weakness, and it was something he had taught himself a long time ago.

 

→*_*←

Tony showed Thor his way to the balcony, where Thor would shout for some guy, chances are a god, named Heim- and something that he didn’t quite catch. Then there was a flash of light, and Tony decided he had to make a new balcony. One that would resist extra terrestrial markings from a unfamiliar place, that apparently could make a man on the same weight as a buffalo (exaggeration yes Tony knew that) disappear into deep space, and end up who knows where. But at the same time these markings were pretty cool, and since Pepper (without his say so) had gotten his whole caused by an almighty god filled in, he had to have some other proof of their connection to a different planet, or realm as they’re apparently called, though Tony liked the name planet more, realms was simply too old school for him, whenever he used it, he felt old, and he really didn’t want to feel old.

Anyways with Thor now gone, they had too figurer out how to handle a so-called former-crazed-villain-turned-good. Honestly the kid was kinda scary; there was a certain cold around him. Something Tony wanted to discover, but that is pretty damn hard when you don’t know what you’re supposed to look for. Then again he weren’t called a genius for nothing. With so many new extra terrestrial thins to discover needed Loki to be careful, he thought to himself, with a smile on his face. He was finally going to get some answers; only of course if the kid was ready to talk about Asgard with him, gosh no he didn’t want to get killed.

 

To be continued in the next chapter…. :))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so so sorry for the lateness of this chapter... tbh life just got in the way.... I usually only write in weekends, and since i had writers block for almost two weeks i was late out. I hope you can forgive me hehe
> 
> I would seriously love to hear your thoughts on this work, was it good or bad? totally rubbish? should it be thrown into the sun? or be sacrificed to the gods ?  
> please let me know in the comments below (dauym that rhymed hehehe )


	5. The monster beneath the skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Loki go for ice-cream after a long day....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Perhaps some slight angst or fluff in this chapter, who knows? Not even I knows where i’m taking this story, its like whoops “Sherlock voice “ *this just sort of happened*  
> And I think my writing is improving (or what? Please tell me cause I have no idea) the dialog is becoming more deep, which was something I lacked in the earlier chapters, so yay for me and all that. Anyways read and enjoy (hopefully)  
> Thank you for all of those who have commented and left kudos, you are seriously sent from chuck (god too the non-supernatural fans) or Loki in the case you are like me, and Loki/ Tom Hiddleston is your god XD

_Ever since I could remember,_

_Everything inside of me,_

_Just wanted to fit in_

_I was never one for pretenders,_

_Everything I tried to be,_

_Just wouldn't settle in_

-Monster by Imagine Dragons

 

**Right after Thor left:**

 

Tony really needed to find a way to encase the black markings left by the teleportation Einstein Rosen Bridge. You know to show off, Tony did love to show off. Perhaps that was why most people found him annoying at times. Then again people needed to be reminded that _he_ was the genius, and not those stupid fucks that had no idea how things went.

 

Bruce was smart though, then again Tony had always known that Bruce Banner were smart, he had hacked into several of SHIELDS files on him, and researched him. Countless things came up that he found interesting, and it only proved to Tony that there was someone out there that understood his genius… those people were good sometimes.

 

Tony knew that he sometimes went a little overboard, with everything. So it was good that there was at least one person that he could unwind on, that someone could keep up with what he said, and were he didn’t have to repeat himself countless times (something Tony really hated). Sometimes he was a millimetre from going all out on Thor, after he had asked what “the funny men in the black box” was for the twenty-seventh time. Sometimes he had just had enough of Thor and his stupid-ass questions for one day, at those times he had to lock himself up in his laboratory blast every kind of Rock that was available and most likely destroying some of his cilia in his ear in the process, no one was allowed to disturb him not even dear old Brucie.

 

Bruce had always understood that during some situations he liked to be alone, and Bruce respected that, which made Tony love him even more, than he would ever admit. Tony couldn’t be known to be “feeling” after all, it would ruin his image. Of course he did have his feelings of trust, rare as they were, take for an example Steve he wouldn’t trust him with a big secret, but he knew he could count on him when time mattered, the same for Romanoff and Clint. Thor he still didn’t know what to think of him just yet. Their first impression of the big guy he had got was that he was an annoying prick that only cared about himself. Of course that turned out to not be true, but he still had to learn how Loki viewed him. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable with Pikachu, and he still had to figure out why. Then again his first encounter with Loki hadn’t been the best either, by far. Maybe if the guy hadn’t been so mad, and well mind controlled, perhaps they would have gotten along pretty well actually.

 

Loki had been smart, probably still is even though he is a little boy, there had never been any doubt about that. And just like Tony he had been a sarcastic little shit, Tony liked those little shits. Of course the idea of becoming friends with a person (alien he reminded himself) that said kneel-before-me-you-mewling-quims was totally absurd, but that was why Tony liked it so much. Tony had sometimes been called a crazy genius, but all the best genius where crazy, it was how they came up with their awesome ideas that no one could ever even hope to rival (or at least for his part was that true). No one could ever even hope to rival Tony Stark, yeah of course they had had some problems with DOOM and his DOOM-bots, but no genius could or would ever talk about himself in third person, that just tuned down his awesomeness to near zero.

 

Tony wasn’t that glad that they had had more close quarters than he would even like to admit. They had been attacked several times, and each and every time Tony had tried to take a bot home to study it, and each and every time exploded the bot before he could even go near it. So yeah DOOM had moved up a couple of notches on Tony’s ‘to defeat’ list in the last couple of months.

Obadiah had been on that for quite some time, but given that the man wasn’t alive anymore, had he taken his name of the list. Tony wasn’t sure how he should feel about killing Stane. He knew that it was normal to feel a level of regret when you killed someone, but he just had an empty whole within him. Filled with nothing, just nothing He didn’t feel for Stane, the bastard had gotten him tortured and had sold HIS weapons to the enemy, so he held absolutely nada love for him whatsoever.

 

It was different when he killed people accidentally though. Sometimes it would happen because a building collapsed on them, other times because something either the Iron Man suit, or an enemy that had escaped them hit them. When those times happened Tony had always felt guilty. He never wanted innocent lives to be lost, no matter the cost; he hated having to give the family “the talk”. Something he would much rather Steve does, since he was so much better at it than him. He would always screw up at some point. He would start with the usual “I’m so sorry to inform you” or “My condolences but … were killed …” but somewhere along the way he would trail off, and end up hurting someone’s feelings. After one time when he seriously screwed up, realized Steve that someone, probably him, had to take over.

 

Tony’s drinking problem would get much worse, when civilian lives were lost. He blamed himself. And he always drank when he got home, it could last the full day if not more. Tony was sure he had already drunken so much; he would have a much to early death. But he couldn’t keep it together enough to actually do something about it. Of course he had tried, but the nightmares wouldn’t let him go, so he ended up where he had let off from the get go. So at last he had given up on the entire quitting thing. He would turn it down, and not drink so much (all the time), but he never actually believed he could stop completely. Tony would be satisfied enough if he could turn it down so much that he only had to drink before he went to sleep. That would be a victory in it self. And it was what Tony was setting after. Seemed like a reasonably goal didn’t it?

 

He looked over to Loki, to see how he was doing. He was a little worried about him but only a little, nothing more than that. He wanted the kid to be okay, even though he had only like known him for a little more than two days. He wasn’t blind, it was obvious to see that Loki weren’t entirely comfortable around his brother, or anyone for that matter, and even though he weren’t that much in touch with his own emotions even he could see the kid just put up a façade. It made one wonder, how stupid the Asgardians had to be for not realizing something was bugging their younger prince.

 

To him it was obvious, it was the same face he had worn so many times in the past, and first learned now how to put away incompletely at a much to late age. Sure he still put it on some times, but he had learned to not keep it up all the time, and there was even certain people that he was comfortable around enough with to talk-talk to.

 

There were still limits to how much he wanted to let out, but he knew that Bruce would be there for him, if he needed him, and it just gave him peace in his heart, in a weird sort of way to know that. Something he deeply appreciated. Tony had never, and would probably never, be good at talking about his feelings. But knowing that someone was willing to listen to him, it gave him a feeling he couldn’t quite describe or even put words to.

 

He had never had the best upbringing, so he was new to all this emotions and feelings that everyone seemed to be able to **_talk_** about. Just the concept of him talking to someone, about something so personal, was something he couldn’t picture himself doing. He hoped that in time he would, he just couldn’t right now. But he had hope. Sometimes though, didn’t it look like a bright future for him… but he wanted to see it. He wanted to change, to be better, to do better. That was why he was Iron Man, nothing more nothing less.

 

In truth it was rather cliché, and it sort of also annoyed him that he was so cliché, but nevertheless it was the truth. And that was also why that it hurt him, when that he knew that while he did good deeds, he also did bad deeds. Civilians had died. Innocent people had died.

Because HE couldn’t save them.  
Because HE hadn’t been strong enough.  
Because HE had been weak.

 

Loki was all kind of closed off. He didn’t know what had caused it, but he doubted it had just happened one time. He wanted to help him, to help him come out of his shell. It had to be a team effort, if some of them didn’t actually screw it up before hand. Both he and Clint were at risk, and even perhaps Natasha, of saying something wrong. Natasha might not show it, but she was still pissed of about what _Loki_ did. So he wasn’t exactly looking forward to them getting back from their mission. Goody two shoes might be able to help, without screwing something up. But Tony wasn’t sure that Loki would open up to him. His whole personality said “I WANNA HELP PLEASE LET ME HELP”, but Tony didn’t think that was what the kid wanted, he thought that all Loki needed was someone to understand him. To tell him the things he needed to hear, whether it was the harsh truth or a hard lie. But that would require feelings, and he really wasn’t good at feelings. Just look how he handled his own, he was probably the most self-destructive person on planet earth. He was good at ruining things; chaos always seemed to be able to make his life hell. Maybe it was karma?

 

 

In the Avengers everyone was a little fucked up, it was like a universal rule or something. To be a hero you had to be at least a little fucked up. Someone high above was most likely against them, or just generally really hated them. Not that Tony believed in a higher power or something.

He could see why some people would, it just seemed like a whole abstract idea to him; that there was someone out there whom people may have just made up, because they needed to believe that the whole shit, they had gone through had been for a bigger picture. He needed to see to believe, needed to be able to study it, to understand it; he couldn’t just believe like some people did. For him to see equalled to know, and to know equalled being able to study it. He wasn’t like Rogers. The super soldier who believed in the bigger picture, that some guy or god high above pulled the strings. He wondered if Clint, or even Natasha believed in god; he had to ask them sometime, but that included the change of a broken nose or a black eye. So that was a no, to that plan. Perhaps he could have Bruce ask them, they wouldn’t dare to hurt him in fear of the Hulk, but that would be rude to Bruce. Or he could ask Loki, but assumedly they would have no want for even slightly holding back on their punches. And even though he still hated the _old_ Loki, Tony didn’t wish that for _this_ Loki to be punished for things he had no idea he had committed, plus the _old_ Loki hadn’t even wanted for ‘that whole thing’ to happen.

 

Something he was pretty curious about still, but it would definitely not be a good idea to even hint at it. They didn’t know the consequences that might happen, and even though the science side of Tony’s brain told him to know now! the rational part of his brain, however small it was, told him to let it go, and hold it back. Even though it would be hard, at least he could still talk to Lo-Lo about magic. MAGIC! He couldn’t wait to actually study it, to know about it, to see it in action. He couldn’t wait. But he also needed to make sure that Loki didn’t think he was going to exploit him. He wanted the kids trust after all. It was also his opinion that Loki needed to know that someone would put his trust in him.

 

He still wasn’t sure how his life had been, what adventures and down falls he had experienced, how broken he had been to end up so closed off. But judging by how Thor talked about his ‘previous’ brother, and how he had been a smiley little kid that always ran after him, didn’t make it hard for Tony to guess that there were something’s that Thor didn’t know. The amount of oaf-ness in Thor was astounding, how someone could ever be so blind. Hell he hadn’t even noticed that his brother’s eye colour weren’t the same, when they were literally fighting eye to eye. Sometimes Tony really wanted to make sure that the idiot still had a brain, or if it was just mush that had replaced it. It was good Bruce was there, or else he would have hammered his head open, and that would be really bloody, and Tony didn’t want to have to unnecessarily change his carpet. He had already changed it once this month, because someone, meaning a certain Hawk had spilled coffee on it, and had somehow managed to leave a trail going from the kitchen sink to the couch. Of course Tony could just replace it with no trouble whatsoever, but he did kinda like his new carpet. Before it had been a total black one, now it was more like a deep blue, sort of like the deep ocean. A colour that Tony apparently really liked, and he aspired to someday have the Penthouse have the same carpet.

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

Loki honestly didn’t know how he should feel about Thor leaving him behind. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it before, but he had hold a tiny flicker of hope? He wasn’t really sure, what the feeling had been. He knew from countless times, that it would only seem like he was different, only to go back to how he was before in the matter of days. Sometimes the changes would happen when he was around his friends, like he was embarrassed to show that Loki was his brother, even though everyone already knew who Loki was before they even laid eyes on him.

 

“The boy always tangling after Thor and his friends.” “The **boy** who practises magic”. “The boy who is no good at combat training.” “The little prince who holds no luck at sword fighting.” “The brother of Thor; whom did not deserve his name to be an Odinson”.

 

Oh yeah he had heard the whispers going on around his back, the tales in the darks, when they thought no one listened, but Loki would always listen. He was known for wandering around in the shadows after all. But even before that he had known about the whispers behind his back, they were poor at concealing it at all, really. One would have thought that they would be more careful about snickering so obviously, he was the prince after all. He found out later though.

 

He had finally had enough, when one of the councilmen openly discussed his dislike with a guard right in front of his door. He had gone too Odin to tell him about what he had heard, but all he had said was: “If you cant handle a little pestering behind your back, then you are in no way fit to be called an Odinson.” With the certain tone of his that told him “you’re still not like Thor”. After that he had just survived it, he had tried ignoring it, but he found that he much rather liked to know what they said about him, than if he didn’t know. It could be valuable information after all.

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

“Okeyyyyy… “ Sensing the tension that had arisen in Loki, tried Tony to convince him to go somewhere else. “Hey Unicorn do you wanna go with me, and see mine and Brucie’s lab?” True that he did have his own lab, that was closer to them. But he still wasn’t quite sure about letting the kid see that just yet, who knows maybe he would ruin something, or set fire to something, wasn’t there something about Loki being the god of fire? He had to ask about that later on. Didn’t kids usually accidentally ruin stuff? Then again this “kid” was older than him by far, oh god if he compared himself too Loki was he the child. He needs a beer, or something even stronger.

 

Tony and Banners common lab was a laboratory Tony had made for them, so that if they worked on the same projects that is where they would work. That and he needed to fill out some space that he had left, so he thought “hey why not just make a lab for Bruce and me?” and boom the blueprints was done (he had just modified the ones he had used for Bruce’s own lab, so it really wasn’t that hard)

 

**Now in the common laboratory:**

 

“J put some music on would you,” -Bruce had always been the more organized between the two of them. Compared to his own lab was Bruce’s lab clean and shiny like a baby bottom. Of course that wasn’t quite true, but in comparison was Tony’s much worse off. He had never been good at cleaning up, that was most likely the reason why his own personal workshop always had, half drunken mugs of coffee, sometimes mixed with something a little stronger, full of mould and stinking. Blueprints would be scattered all over the tables, and floor. Sulphur would sometimes (if he had had an accident while experimenting) cover up the wall over his main desktop.

 

He had been experimenting with making the beams in the Mark V stronger by using a different resonance, and it had accidentally made a little explosion. Not enough too cause any real harm, but it was enough that his hairs on his arms had been burnt (but only a little). Thank god nobody knew about that little fail.

 

Different tools would laid all over the place; some where covered in grime and oil, others still stuck in the mechanism they were being used for. Tony’s workplace really was a catastrophe. But then again he was used to working in workplaces that could in no way be humanly possible. It wasn’t like he cared about the dirt, or the things on the floor, as long as he could do what he did best. The worst thing was that he had to clean it all up himself, since he would never let anyone inside besides himself, and a select few that he trusted. Still even if it was the select few, he never let anyone into his work laboratory without him supervising. He knew Jarvis would notify him, if someone did something they shouldn’t be doing, but paranoia was a bitch sometimes. It usually needed a lot of coaxing and a whole lot of proof, for someone to be even allowed in there even for a second.

 

 

_-“Rita i’m not alone_

_I can see you waiting in the doorway of our little cabin home_

_I feel so new haven’t you heard_

_I was the lonesome rider and the lonesome rider is home. “-_

-As per the Masters request started Jarvis the playlist he usually listened to while he worked. His sensors had already picked up the smaller shape, and since he was programmed to know that it was a child, turned he down the volume a couple of notches. So it wasn’t on the same ear-ringing capacity the Master usually listened too. The playlist started from ‘Lonesome Rider’ by Volbeat, and moved down to ‘It’s my life’ from Bon Jovi. He usually jumbled them up, so it was never a constant order they came in.

 

 

\-->*_*<\--

Loki still had no understanding of what he was actual doing here. In truth he had just followed the mortal, he did look like the leader of the two, so it was the wisest choice in question he could take. He wondered if they were taking him somewhere safe. He wouldn’t let his worry show on his face though, never show weakness, especially if you weren’t in control of the situation. But if these mortals where dangerous, why would Thor take him too them? And surely he was strong enough to take them, if they ever tried anything. The only thing he needed to worry about was remaining calm. He knew it was a supposed educational trip, but he didn’t see how that would ever come to be. Furthermore was it educational trip for _him, or them._ He just had to wait and see.

 

“Sooo Loki you probably don’t know much about what exactly is going on, Thor doesn’t really seem the type to have explained this situation at all….”- he trailed off catching a glance of Loki’s curious eyes, nope didn’t seem to know anything about this at all, damn he really had no idea what he could tell him. -“The story is, you are too be staying here with me and Bruce, and some others when they come back. If you want anything you can either let me, Bruce or Jarvis know. Jarvis is like the butler of this house, servant if you have those on Asgard, who am I kidding you totally have those. You are not confined to his place alone, and you can do whatever you like, as long as it doesn’t bring you in any type of danger.” He trailed off, hoping he had explained the situation well enough.

 

That was…. Dare he say different, than he had originally expected. It was certainly not the kind of thing he suspected would happen, far from it in fact. At least he got some information, but there was no doubt in his mind, that he still needed to be careful and wary. Even if he was just here “to stay” it would do him no favours to wrong them in any way, therefore it would be better to just stay out of trouble. The mortal Stark was obviously interested in his magic, but if he wanted to know out of the satisfaction of his curiosity, or if it was too find his strengths and weaknesses he did not know. It was troubling at best. It was hard for him to remember the last time he had been in a situation where he didn’t know what to expect. He had been on Midgard before, and the adventure had not been pleasant, but this realm had obviously changed. He was not blind enough to miss that.

 

**About two hours after:**

 

The two humans had led him to the thing they called a laboratory. The thing itself looked like the smiths they had back in Asgard, just more “human”. They had introduced him too all kinds of things, things he had seen altered versions off and others that he had no idea what use was for. He had asked about it, and they hadn’t seemed angry by it, not at all. Which only prompted him too try and ask more questions, he needed to test his boundaries. He was always expecting them too suddenly burst on him, and tell him “A warrior should already know this” but they never actually did, which made him weirdly glad.

 

They had been doing their own thing for quite some time now. Stark had been tinkering with something called an angle grinder. And Bruce had been silently reading over some of his data, checking if they matched and if it was correct. Loki had been reading the book he had found in the library, for nearly the same amount of time that Stark and Bruce had been working on their projects. But of course something always happened when Loki was at peace.

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

They didn’t know how it happened or what had caused it, all they knew was that they seriously needed a talk afterwards. A damn important talk between Stark and Bruce. Tony had been doing his own thing, and then suddenly the ground started shaking. The ground freaking started shaking. Of course Tony’s first thought had been that they were under attack, presumably from Doom, or whatever new wannabe villain had popped up. But then he had ordered Jarvis to give him status report, and when the AI said it was only this floor there was “acting up”, he knew something was really wrong. It was weird how it hadn’t hid him at the start that it was something Loki related. His brain just hadn’t come up with that scenario yet, which was weird considering how much he still didn’t (quite) trust him yet. But when he dodged a wrench, or well it looked like a wrench, but it was kinda hard to really see it, in the hurry it flew past him in. Dared he too look out from his cover behind the chair, and take a glance at what was happening around him.

 

The room was swirled in green mist, and at the centre of it all stood Loki. Luckily it wasn’t the old Loki, if it had been was Tony pretty sure they would have all been dead by now. Bruce was knocked out cold. At least this way there was little chance of The Hulk coming out any time soon. It didn’t look like Loki was entirely conscious too. More like half awake, and half trapped in an endless nightmare. He was screaming. Screaming in torment and pain, and laughter, and insanity. And in the midst of all those screams a more quitter voice could be heard. It took some time and concentration for Tony to be able to hear what was he was saying. The green stuff was still swirling around in chaos, making it hard to move forward to help. He wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed before he finally made it through the green stuff. Loki was muttering all kinds of sick stuff under his breath.

 

“I’m sorry”- “I don’t deserve this” – “Please just le me die” -“It hurts”-“Thor, it hurts so much”-“I cant do this, not anymore”-“I wanna die” – “Too much pain”- “there are so much darkness” – “please Thor save…”

 

Tony knew how to handle a panic attack, and he knew how to handle himself (he could be a pain in the ass sometimes) but this? How did you help a former insane demi-god who was recently de-aged into a little kid, and said kid was now having a flashback of some kind to his funny little torture days. Yeah Tony was out of ideas too. The only thing he could really try and do was calm him down. Which again easier said than done. He used the same kind of words that Bruce (god send Brue) used when he was having one of his own panic attacks. He hoped that it would somehow calm Loki even a little. He even did consider praying to the being he did not believe in. He really didn’t want to die in the clutched of a de-aged supposed super villain. He remained strong though, in his non-existent faith.

 

After a seemingly very long while of Tony of reassuring words, that to Tony just sounded like words he made up on the get-go. He was too caught up in solving the new obstacle that his brain hadn’t noticed the change that had happened around them. Bruce had woken up at some point in the chaos happening around him. Bruce did though. And he let out a surprised yelp, that was not so Bruce-like, as the green stuff, presumably, Loki’s magic, started to disappear. Others might say absorbed, but Tony’s brain couldn’t handle thinking about that right now, more important matters were at hand.

 

Even though his magic was disappearing (absorbed) into him, his words didn’t quiet down. Loki seemed to get whiter and whiter, until he turned so white, that was in no way healthy for one, even if the person was in fact a demi-god alien from outer space. But then as if a carpet was being pulled, like before a show on a stage, it stopped. Just stopped, abruptly. Whatever he must have been experiencing must have been cut off from this Loki. Which meant that the spell still worked, thank the holy gods for that in the heaven above.

 

 

The kid was absurdly heavy, so heavy that Tony needed Bruce’s help to carry him. What did this kid even have on him? Was this some kind of alien metabolism that Tony’s brain was in no way able to handle at the moment?

 

Bruce had some blood smeared on his face, he had tried to wipe it off, but it had just caused more harm than good. He had some light bruises, but nothing bad except for an expected concussion. So all in all, it could have gone much worse. In fact Tony didn’t want to think about how much worse it could have gotten. Because if he did that, then without a doubt he would be a teeny tiny bit mad at something Loki couldn’t even control. It wasn’t his fault that a nightmare, just decided to pop into his head, so he couldn’t really allow himself to be angry about it. If he just understood the cause of it, then perhaps he might not be so angry, he might understand it a tad more. He knew what it was, he felt deep inside. It was the same kind of thing that felt like he would suffocate sometimes. He could recognize the feeling everywhere. From when he woke up from a particularly bad night, to the feeling of it gnawing at his intestines to it just randomly pop into his head, when he was a perfectly sound mind. But this?! That just happened?! It had all turned to chaos in seconds. It had been so peaceful, and then it was gone. He knew it was no ones fault. But the fear that right now resided within him, made it so he would blame someone, anybody really. Loki hadn’t been in control he knew that. But who was to say if it would never happen again? They had been lucky this time, what if the next time around, they wouldn’t be so lucky. What if it would totally rampage, and cause havoc. Tony definitely needed to think this through when he had a clearer head.

 

 

\-->*_*<\--

 

Tony filled him in on what he had missed in his time out cold. It wasn’t much that could be said, because truth being told, they had no idea what had gone down. They didn’t even know if there would be a chance of it happening again. So yeah they Tony and Bruce definitely needed to discuss this. Bruce really hadn’t expected this to happen, at all. Wasn’t it some all-powerful mages, who had done the spell, shouldn’t they have thought about preventing some of this ever happening? Powerful alien mages probably just didn’t have the same thought process as humans. But what more was different though? The only two aliens they had met and thoroughly known, was Thor and Loki. And those two were vastly different. Where the one was light, the other was darkness, where one was forthcoming; the other resided in darkness. But who was to say, what kind of races were out there? They had heard some of them from Thor’s conversation, but it wasn’t too hard to imagine more being out there. What was they like? How did they behave? What did they even look like?

 

All these questions tumbled inside Bruce’s head. He had always been known as the science freak, not on any level in comparison to Tony though, but he had still been smarter than the other kids in his school. It was hard for him to remember a time, when he hadn’t wished to know all kinds of things, both big and small, whether it was unimportant or important. This was something that had always turned him in disfavour with most of his teachers. It was common knowledge that old people didn’t want to have questions thrown their way by kids, that deserved better answers than they could give, unfortunately little Bruce had figured that little niche out a little too late.

 

They had put Loki down on the couch in the nearest room. He hadn’t said any words, just a few grunts that kids normally do when they were asleep. Tony had made Jarvis alert him if it even seemed like Loki would wake up, and with that knowledge of safety in the front of their minds, made they their way to finally having that long deserved talk.

 

**In Bruce’s living room:**

“Okay so let us start with the things we know”- said Tony, while reaching for some well earned coffee, as he began to list the things- “ 1) Loki was trapped in a nightmare 2) that’s basically it. We don’t know what it was off, we can only guess. But I think it’s safe to assume it was his days after his fall. You should watch the footage, to get a sense of what to expect if it ever happens again. It would be stupid of us to ask him about it when he comes too. I still think the spell works, and it should block him remembering anything, if Thor spoke the truth.”

 

 

“Okay so to sum it up; we know next to nothing? Come on Tony I don’t like this. Something obviously went wrong. Even if I didn’t see it, I still know it was horrible, and I really don’t want him to experience it ever again.” Bruce really didn’t like this. He didn’t like not knowing what he could expect. And he did speak the truth. He had seen the aftermath, and it was something he really didn’t want to see happening again, to them and Loki.

 

 

“Don’t you think I know that? – It came out harsher than Tony had expected, and he saw Bruce wince, witch just gave him a sick feeling – “I know we really can’t do anything for him, okay I know, damn I know that. And it pisses me off okay. I just don’t know. I am no fool. We don’t know what mojo was used on him; we can only hope that Thor spoke the truth about this spell not being able to be nullified. That is basically all we can do, and damn it pisses me off Bruce. It just does. I hate not being able to do anything.”

 

“I get it I do Tony. I hate it too” with that, the debate ended, and another one was to start.

 

“I should probably find some evidence for Loki’s innocence. We should have some solid evidence to stick to Fury’s and the other Avengers faces, just in case.” Suggested Tony. They hadn’t thought much about it. What they would do if they got discovered, if any of the other found out about their little secret. It was safest to already have evidence proving that Loki was not in control during the invasion ready.

 

“Good idea, and I will see to take Loki out a little. Yes I know it’s risky, but I think we could all benefit from it. Maybe it will even make him trust us more. Not that I blame him for not trusting us. He just got dumped here, and he probably doesn’t even know what’s going on himself. I know you see it in him, how wary he is. He is closed off; even I can see that. And maybe this will help him understand that we don’t want to cause him any harm.

 

They each went off to do their own thing. Tony started finding evidence, and Bruce waited for Loki waking up so he could take him out, maybe get an ice cream. Did they even have ice cream on Asgard?

 

**The park**

Loki had woken only six hours after he had gone into unconsciousness. They had expected him to sleep at least 10 hours; after all he had looked pretty much drained after the whole ordeal.

Tony had gotten some footage of the invasion, some taking in a hurry from bi-passers, and news helicopters that had tried to evade the flying chariots. So he had to mostly rely on the footage he had hacked from S.H.I.E.LD’s servers, where Loki could be seen more clearly, to get a better quality.

 

Bruce had used most of the time to clean up after the episode. It had taken more than he had first anticipated. Then again he did stack the loose files and folders together and in order, so this was probably partly the reason why. He had already been cleaning the place out, so he might as well go full cleaning mode. He had ended up only being down two hours before Loki woke up. But still he had had some time to prepare himself… not that he thought anything was going to happen, but it was just in case the kid asked about why he couldn’t remember the hours before he woke up or anything else really.

 

Now they sat on a bench in a little running park. He had thought that a little park would be better than the big ones. Fewer people were at risk of recognizing Loki, not that there was that much chance of it ever happening, but they couldn’t be too careful. They didn’t want to invoke mass panic after all.

 

They had stopped by an ice cream shop on the way. Loki had looked with awe, at how the clerk made his soft ice, and a soft careful smile had pulled at his lips when the clerk (named Kevin) handed him theirs. It was safe to say that they didn’t have any ice cream stands in Asgard. He did sort of look forward to introducing Loki to new things. _What would his reaction to a blender look like? -_ Loki looked at him weirdly, confused, wondering what had made him smile. Maybe even wondering if he was the laughing matter or if something else was. That immediately turned his smile upside down, and instead he smiled reassuringly back.

 

Multiple runners came by doing their time on the small bench, some even waved, probably recognizing him as an Avenger. They ate in silence, neither of them was much of the talker, that much was clear. Bruce had always been at a loss for what could be said to start a conversation, always waiting for someone else to engage in it. Loki just didn’t seem to want to really talk, it suited Bruce fine. Though he did wonder a little what was on his mind. He didn’t press the matter though; he understood that the kid needed some space to observe everything to understand everything. Just to know whom they were and if they were planning something. He didn’t know much about his childhood and how he had been as a kid, but what he had seen so far, and what Thor had told about it, it hadn’t been pretty good. He wanted to know about it. He wanted to help. But he also knew he shouldn’t be pressing the matter. He just had to wait, and then Loki would little by little tell it. Maybe not

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally figured out what I wanted Odin to be like…. Like in the movies, a big douche. 
> 
> Also sorry for how much time this chapter took, I don’t really have that good of an excuse other than work, and reading other fan fictions. It took some time for me to actual get to understanding what I wanted with this chapter, but I think it went pretty well. Tell me what you think? Should I throw it in the pit or should I sacrifice it too our overlord Loki/ Tom Hiddleston.


End file.
